


Death is Gold

by Oilux



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Another AU no one asked for, Blood, Depictions of violence but nothing major, F/M, Grim Reaper!Bill, Horror, Torture, Violence, more tags to be added later, updates every Friday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 17:41:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 37,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10949511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oilux/pseuds/Oilux
Summary: Death doesn't discriminate, between the sinners and the saintsIt takes and it takes and it takes, and we keep living anywayWe rise and we fall and we break, and we make our mistakesAnd if there's a reason I'm still alive, when so many have died,Then I'm willing to wait for it.Mabel Pines had always seen death. It haunted her from the moment of birth. Death hovered in the background of her life, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. It was cold and heartless, and it stared at her with unflinching eyes.She just hadn't expected death to have a name.





	1. Death is Relentless

The first time she sees him, she's six and at the hospital visiting her grandfather, a man Mabel had only met a couple times before in her life. Despite his age and the heart attacks that had put him in the hospital, her grandfather had declared that whole family was overreacting, it was just a heart attack. Mabel giggled and watched as he made funny faces to try to cheer her and her brother up.

Their uncle was there and sometimes their father would have to leave them to go and take a walk, but to Mabel and Dipper it was like any other time they had visited their grandpa Shermie. They were too young to understand that heart attacks were serious things, especially for a man as old as Shermie was.

Their grandfather was showing them signs they could make with their hands, showing how to make shadow puppets, when the doctor came in and spoke in a hushed voice to her parents. Mabel was too distracted to notice how serious it all was, though her brother seemed to be paying more attention than her. Sometimes, when the adults started talking, he would reach over and take her hand.

The doctors let the two of them stay with their grandfather, because as they told Mabel, families should stick together. Late that night, she heard a noise that made her rise sleepily out of the uncomfortable hospital bed she had been sharing with her grandfather. She rubbed tiredly at her eyes, trying to see in the faint glow from hospital equipment.

It was a man, who stepped into the room without a sound of a greeting. Mabel stared at him for a moment as he walked forward, thinking he was probably just another person who wanted to see her grandfather while he was there. He was dressed in finery, clothes that Mabel had seen grown ups like her dad wear when they went someplace special. His shiny, leather shoes, clicked on the hard tile of the hospital as he stepped closer, and didn’t so much as look at her.

Mabel curled back up against her grandfather, feeling his arm instinctively come up to wrap around her so she wouldn't fall off the bed. Mabel stared up at the man, wondering if he was a doctor or something else, since the doctors said that normally they were the only ones who stayed during the night.

His eyes glanced over her, looking but not actually seeing her, before focusing back on her grandfather. Mabel was too tired to do anything other than lay there and watch him, but all she could manage to do was pull the blanket up further to stave off the chill of the room.

The man moved, tugging gloves off and reaching for her grandfather. Mabel continued to watch silently, not sure if she should interrupt to ask what he was doing. Her dad had scolded her the last time that she had done that.

Then the man touched her grandfather on the arm, and nothing happened, at least not at first. Yet as he pulled his hand back there was a soft blue glow about it, almost looking like fire against his skin. Mabel couldn’t look away from his hand, even as the man pulled back, placing his gloves on once more over the blue fire and turning to leave, having gotten what he came for. Mabel watched him leave, wondering what all the fuss could be with her grandfather to make a doctor come in just to see if he was sleeping well.

She didn't notice that her grandfather took one last breath, before letting it all out in a fragile rush that signaled the end of his life. She didn't notice until the nurse walked in when his heart monitor stopped, and Mabel was taken away from her grandfather by her dad, who was crying for the first time that Mabel had ever seen.

“What about the doctor who came in earlier?” Mabel asked innocently, taking Dipper’s hand. Dipper clung tightly to her. “He made sure that Grandpa Shermie was okay.”

“Sometimes, it's just their time.” Her dad almost choked on the words, right as the nurse pulled the blanket over Shermie and that was it. Mabel didn't realize that she wouldn't be seeing her grandfather again until he was lowered into the ground and her dad was crying again.

* * *

The second time she saw him, she was eight, playing in the yard with her brother. It was the heat filled summer weather of California, trying to give them heat strokes even while they played in the in the sprinklers of their backyard, Dipper laughing with his book forgotten on the porch. The summer sun threatened to skip tanning their skin and move on to simply burning it.

“That's cheating, Mabel!” Dipper shouted as Mabel finally decided a fair fight wasn't fun and grabbed the hose. Dipper still laughed as she sprayed him down, probably liking the cold water more than the heat.

“Seriously?” Mabel pulled back when he asked, but only because she heard the ice cream truck start to come by, not because of his plea. Dipper always said that she was too rough when they played.

“Ice cream!” She dropped the hose, leaving Dipper to turn off the spout as she bolted through the house. She slid on tile, nearly crashing into her mother who was making lunch.

“Mabel, be careful!” Her mother scolded, but there was no real anger behind the words.

“Sorry mom!” Mabel heard Dipper right behind her and sped up, racing out through the front door and her bare feet slapping hard on the cement.

“Mabel!” Her brother screamed as Mabel sped into the street, right onto the burning hot asphalt of the road, and a horn honked just as she looked back at him, and Mabel only saw the shiny black exterior of a car that swerved to avoid her, almost running into a tree.

She breathed hard, from running and adrenaline, the road burning into her feet as Dipper yanked her back to the sidewalk. The driver stopped to get out of his car, screaming at them for running into the road. Mabel couldn't hear him over the thunder of her own heartbeat in her own ears. The man still stood silently across the street.

He didn't look any different from that night in the hospital room. He leaned on a cane that Mabel didn't remember seeing before, a small frown decorating his face as he stared right at her. Mabel raised a hand, offering a small wave but her neighbor must have thought that she waving at her. The whole neighborhood was coming out to see why a man was yelling at a child standing on the sidewalk.

“What happened?” Her mother brushed the hair out of her face, while Mabel hopped back and forth from foot to foot to escape the heat.

“Your kid ran out in the middle of the road! I almost hit her!” The driver immediately confessed, still shouting and his face still a bit red, though Mabel couldn’t tell if it was from the heat or anger.

“You almost hit my baby?”

The two adults descended into an argument, both yelling at each other and both threatening to call the police. Mabel finally escaped to stand on the grass of her front lawn, wiping sweat off her face and trying to look through the adults and across the street, but she couldn’t see the man anymore.

“Did you see that guy? The fancy one?” Mabel asked Dipper, wondering if her dad would get them some lemonade before her mom came back in from yelling at the man.

“What guy? I saw the neighbor. You can’t just run out into the street, Mabel!” Dipper tugged at her hand, pouting slightly but not saying anything other than that. Mabel shrugged, poking his cheeks and making him frown at her even more.

“I’m okay! We missed the ice-cream truck though…” Mabel sighed, unable to think of anything worse than missing out on ice cream. “Think dad will give us some?”

“We haven’t even had lunch yet!” Dipper laughed, but still headed towards their father’s study, intent on asking just as Mabel was. She no longer thought of the man in the suit, more concerned with getting ice cream for lunch.

* * *

The third time that she saw him, she’s twelve and has no idea what she’s going to do for a whole three months as summer started. A whole three months to spend making scrapbooks and spending time with her brother, and Mabel couldn’t wait to get started, even if her brother was already nose deep in a book and going on about whatever he was learning about now.

Her mom was driving, which Mabel thought was strange enough as it was because her mom didn’t normally drive, and her dad was giving directions. Mabel was slapping down stickers into her newest scrapbook, her favorite ones going first so that she wouldn’t lose them later.

“Where are we going again?” Mabel asked, putting down a sticker of a star that had ‘you’re a star’ printed on it in pink. Her mom glanced back at her out of habit, but swerved to correct herself when her husband pointed it out.

“We’re going out for a picnic, remember you helped me make the pie?” Her mom asked, hitting the bumps in the road that made Mabel’s ears hurt. Dipper had never once looked up from his book as they talked.

“Oh yeah, mom can we stop and get more glitter?” Mabel looked down at the scrapbook and was quite disappointed that there was a shortage of glitter between the pages.

“More? Mabel did you already use all that I got you?”

“Duh.” Mabel rolled her eyes, giggling at the face she knew her mom was making.

“Mabel, don’t take that tone-”

The car seemed to slip for a moment, and just for a moment Mabel could have sworn that everything moved in slow motion. The scrapbook slipped from her lap, her brother gasped in surprise, and her mother jerked the wheel of the car to try to regain control. The gliding only lasted a second, the car’s tires hitting the pavement once more with a squeal, and then there was a terrible crunch of metal that Mabel knew she would never forget.

The car visibly shook, slamming against the hard trunk of a tree just as another car, the one that had initially hit them, ran into them pinning their car between the metal and the tree. Mabel didn’t know that they made airbags in car doors, but they deployed against her, keeping her from slamming against the door or being crushed by it as well.

There wasn’t silence, because the radio was still playing one of Mabel’s favorite songs as she looked around with dazed eyes at the shattered car windows, the windshield so cracked that Mabel couldn’t see out of it anymore. She groaned softly as she reached up to touch her head, pulling her hand back and seeing blood there, staining her fingers.

“Mommy?” Mabel asked softly, unable to move her left arm. It was pinned between her seat and the door, but she could still move her fingers if she tried. “Mommy?”

No answer. Mabel couldn’t undo her seatbelt, but she tried to reach over, touching Dipper’s shoulder. Everyone was just limp, in a way that reminded her of when Grandpa Shermie laid in bed when they pulled the sheet over his head. Dipper was leaning against the car door, his head laying in broken glass where the window would have been open but not moving, hardly seeming to breath.

“Help.” Mabel croaked, wishing that her mom had given her a cellphone when she asked for it. “Someone please help me.”

Her dad wasn’t moving, her mom wasn’t moving, her brother wasn’t even seeming to breathe, Mabel had no idea where they were. She felt like she couldn’t catch her breath, sitting in a car that was still running while too cheerful music played in the background. It was like this wasn’t actually happening to her.

She heard the soft crunching of glass, someone walking through the wreckage towards her car. For just a moment, she felt hope that someone was coming for them, someone must have seen the crash and come to help them. She tried to lean forward, but it just made her chest hurt and she had to stop.

“Please, someone help me.” Mabel said softly, voice barely louder than a whisper. For just a moment, she looked up, seeing a hand reach through the window, placing itself on her mother’s forehead and pulling back a moment later, but this time with a distinctive blue glow about it.

She leaned her head back as the footsteps sounded again, and then she saw the hand come back, this time touching her father’s head and pulling back, still with the same blue glow. For just a moment, it was silent again before the hand was back, this time reaching out for her and the man staring at her through the place where the window used to be.

For the first time though, his gaze met her own, and instead of looking right through her as he had done before, his golden eyes met her own. His blank expression fell, showing a hint of surprise before he frowned. Mabel’s dazed mind told her he probably frowned a lot.

“It’s you.” She said, pulling once more at the door to try to get it to release her arm. “Please, please help me. Is my mom okay?”

Her words were a whine, filled with the pain from injuries she couldn’t feel yet and her eyes already filled with tears. Slowly, the man pulled his hand back and simply stared at her, glancing over her at her brother for just a second.

Then he pulled back, and Mabel was more upset that she was being left alone than she was with the strange man who had a habit of showing up when she least expected it. Yet as she heard the glass crack underneath his feet, and the sound of sirens in the background, and couldn’t keep her mind awake any longer. She passed out against the door of the car, knowing only darkness.


	2. Death is Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~

Her arm was broken in three different places after the accident. Mabel didn’t remember being pulled out of the car by the paramedics, or when the jaws of life had to be taken out to free her, and how that action made her broken arm fracture even more.

She remembered waking up in the hospital bed with her uncle, asleep in the chair next to her and her brother on the other side of the room. Mabel was covered in more bandages than she had ever seen before, and her arm bandaged in a cast, but her brother looked even worse, with a tube down his throat and keeping him breathing. Mabel’s arm was wrapped up in a cast and already ached, despite the medicine coursing through her veins.

Her brother took two days to wake up from the accident, while Mabel stayed in the hospital bed across from him. Her uncle stayed with her almost the entire time that they were there, insisting that Mabel call him ‘Grunkle Stan’ because apparently that’s what she used to call him when she was younger.

She asked, if it was the man in the suit who called the ambulance to help them out, but Stan had told her that it was the other driver, the one who crashed into them, that called the ambulance. Stan never told her what happened to the man, and she never asked.

In one day, her entire life had turned completely upside down. The house she had grown up in went on the market as they went to live with Stan, and her parents hadn’t made it. She looked down at the cast on her arm, seeing where everyone had signed it, trying to cheer up but she still cried when her uncle helped her pack up her things to move into his tourist trap.

That was it. There was no changing what happened. Her parents were gone, buried next to her grandfather in the same graveyard that Mabel wondered if she would be buried in as well. She didn’t feel present at the funeral, even when they lowered the caskets into the ground and her brother handed her a tissue for her tears.

Gravity Falls had always been interesting though. After four months she was finally allowed to take her cast off, but they told her they wouldn’t remove the pins in her arm that helped her arm heal. She had a couple scars on the skin as well, and so did her brother. Yet with all the adventures that happened in Gravity Falls, they didn’t have time to think about sadness and loss or how their parents were buried over the hill and there were spaces next to them for their children.

She didn’t see the man again for years. Sometimes she thought about him, wondering why he hadn’t helped them when he had a chance, and why he always seemed to be there when something bad happened. 

She was sixteen when she saw him again, when she had been searching through the woods for a flower that Dipper was going on about the other day, saying that it was only native to Gravity Falls and nowhere else. Mabel couldn’t believe how excited he was over a flower until she read the notes about it in the old journal he carried everywhere.

“Oh, I see now.” Mabel teased, nudging her brother in the ribs. “All about the ladies now? Do you have a crush on someone?”

Dipper actually blushed with embarrassment, hiding his face in the book as Mabel cackled evilly, already planning what she would do. According to the journal, the flower had the ability to tie destinies together, as long as the flower was given as a gift. It would make a great bargaining tool for her brother to cough up who he had a crush on.

That was why, hours later, she reasoned with herself that she wasn’t lost in the woods, simply taking the longer route to get home, even if the sun was starting to set and she had absolutely no idea where she was headed next. Mabel wrapped her arms around herself, keeping her warmth about her as the sun set and she was left in darkness in the woods.

What had her brother told her? Don’t go out into the woods alone, and if she got lost to stay exactly where she was so she wouldn’t get even more lost. With a huff, she plopped down on a stump, wondering where the rest of the tree had gone if there was only a stump left.

There was a quiet rustle, a shake in the bushes near her that made the hair on the back of her neck rise and a shiver to go down her spine. Mabel tensed, looking at the bush intently as it rustled again, trying to see what was there.

“Hello?” Mabel asked softly, scared that her voice would draw whatever was out there to her . It was probably a mouse, or something silly that she could tell her brother about when he found her later.

Except it wasn’t that. Coming out of the bush and shaking the leaves off it’s fur was a large wolf, growling at her. Through the darkness, it almost seemed as though it’s eyes were glowing, staring right at her in the darkness. Mabel stood up from the stump, arms spread out for balance and security.

“Good doggie.” Mabel mumbled, stepping around the stump, but the wolf just followed her. It stepped out from the bush, growling and hackles raised , sharpened teeth showing.

“Good doggie, let’s just stop there.” Mabel held her hands out in front of her, but the beast moved forward, Mabel  and started to realize that it was larger than a normal wolf. 

She felt her heart pounding in her chest, and just for a moment it seemed like this wolf and her were going to stare each other down, but then it suddenly lunged forward, and Mabel saw other wolves behind it. Reactions were instinctive, she scrambled to turn around, sprinting off as fast as she could.

It was only a couple feet before she realized just how close the wolves were to her, and that she wasn’t going to be escaping them. The one she first saw in the bushes nipped at her heels, trying to sink it’s teeth into her ankle to trip her up. One misstep, one branch in her way, and she would be done for.

Or maybe not. She raced forward, scampering over a log which might have just been that tree that the stump was from, but Mabel had no time to think of that. She propelled herself forward on the momentum, jumping just high enough to reach the branch of a tree, and out of the grasps of the wolves who snapped at her from below. Her hands scraped across the rough bark of the tree, but it was better than being torn apart from limb to limb.

“Seriously?” Mabel muttered, a habit that she had picked up from her brother as she panted. 

Her hands were bleeding, her chest hurt from her  panting, but she was safe for now, even if the wolves were still trying to jump up the tree to get at her.

“You have a knack for getting into trouble, don’t you?” 

The sudden voice made her let out a little  screech of fright, clutching tightly to the branch below her so she wouldn’t go toppling off. The wolves went from jumping to pacing the ground below her, waiting for her to fall.

Just barely above her was the man, sitting on his own branch with his back against the tree, a cane in his lap and still dressed in a suit despite being in the middle of the woods. His voice was a higher pitch than she expected, and he didn’t even look at her, he was staring down at the wolves below her.

“Who are you?” Mabel asked instead of answering his question, almost feeling like she was dreaming. He had been there when her parents died, he had stared at her while she asked for help and had walked off. It was so strange, not only seeing him so close but  actually talking tohim.

“ Guess you don’t have any manners , do you?” The man asked instead, finally looking from the wolves back at her. Those glowing golden eyes hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“Listen, I’m not the creepy one in the woods! And I do to have manners! ” Mabel almost yelled, but her focus went more towards the branch she was sitting on. 

“Geeze, kid, calm down.” The man slid from one branch to another, moving closer to her and in the small space that there was between her and the trunk. “You’re the one always getting into trouble.”

“How do I get into trouble?” Mabel snapped, looking down when one wolf actually jumped high enough to nearly bite her foot off. 

“Well, it all started when you were born,” he started, laughing when she glared at him, “I’m serious! You’ve been trouble and skating on the edge since you were little.”

“Look, I’m not the creepy guy dressed in a suit in the woods.  W hat do you want?” Mabel felt strange asking what he wanted, like it wasn’t the thing she should be asking right then, but her hand slipped and she couldn’t think of that when she was about to fall.

Yet as her hand reached out, it clasped around something, but Mabel couldn’t see what it was because she was too busy staring down at wolves who were snapping at her hair, some of them getting high enough to actually rip strands of hair out of her scalp. Mabel felt blood rush into her head for a moment before she hauled herself back up, staring at the blond man. The thing she had grabbed was his cane, and if he had let it go she would have fallen to her death.

“See, you just have a knack for getting into trouble.” The man laughed. “What are you even doing out here, kid?”

“My names Mabel.” She said, trying to get as far away from him on the branch but stopped when it bent dangerously underneath her weight. “I was out looking for a flower.”

“A flower.” He didn’t even question it, shaking his head as though it was stupid. Mabel guessed that it was pretty stupid, now that she thought of it. “You were looking for a flower?”

“You know, it’s polite to introduce yourself when someone offers their name.” Mabel muttered back, finally getting her balance.

“Oh, well if you’re going to be rude about it, forget it.” The man crossed his arms, cane sitting in his lap. “That flower, what’s it called?”

Mabel sighed through her nose, finding it better to think about this conversation than the wolves sitting on the ground. At least they had stopped jumping at her.

“Um, paopu? I think? The picture was really pretty.” Mabel shrugged slightly. “Can I at least know your name? Also, are you a vampire?”

The man laughed at that, a sharp sound that unsettled Mabel’s nerves more than his silence ever had. She couldn’t think of anything else he could be though, vampires were the only creature that she heard about that didn’t age.

“A vampire, I haven’t been called that before.” The man wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, and Mabel  noticed his gloves were back. “I’m not a vampire though.”

She scoffed a bit, words escaping her. She was stuck in a tree with a madman who wouldn’t give her two straight answers in a row, and wolves were pacing around on the ground below them. He didn’t look away from her once, golden eyes staring into her as though he was trying to see into her soul.

Yet before she could think of anything to say, he moved, hooking the cane around the back of her head and making her lean forward. She couldn’t let go of the branch without losing her balance and possibly falling, so she was forced to lean forward until the man stopped pulling, only able to look at him with how close he was.

“You should be taking better care of yourself, young one. You’re really trying my patience.” His breath ghosted across her face, and it actually felt cold, before he pulled back and let her go.

Before she could say anything else, he jumped down. The wolves didn’t even seem to see him at first before he tapped his cane against the ground lightly, and suddenly the wolves sped off in random directions as though they had been struck by lightning. He looked up at her, and Mabel hesitated a moment before she jumped down, landing hard on the ground with a thump.

“Come.” 

He started walking, and Mabel wasn’t sure if she really wanted to follow  the strange man deeper into the woods. She was hungry, she had been walking for hours, but she didn’t want to encounter the wolves or any other creature that might be hiding, waiting for her.

She followed after him silently, watching him occasionally smack trees with his cane as though he was seeing things that she couldn’t, or just working out his anger. Mabel didn’t notice just how late it was until the sun started to rise on the horizon, and she yawned before she suddenly walked into a clearing and suddenly knew just where she was. Barely twenty feet away from where she was standing was the Mystery Shack, still asleep with the rest of the world. She took a couple steps past the man, while he stayed in the tree line.

“Why?” Mabel turned back to ask the man, to finally find out his name and just who he was, if he was really just someone who seemed to be looking out for her, or he was some kind of creepy stalker.

He was gone though, left in his place was a flower in the shape of a star, the same flower she had searched for and got lost in the woods over. Mabel hesitantly picked up the flower, cradling it gently in her hands before she moved to head inside, exhausted.

When her brother asked her later, after she woke up from sleeping the day away, what had taken her so long and if she found the flower, Mabel had shrugged and said she got a little lost,  and  didn’t find the flower. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Kingdom Hearts.
> 
> Want to stay updated on this story? Ask questions about this AU? Click [here](http://oilux.tumblr.com/) to stay tuned and get live updates!


	3. Death is Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you follow me on tumblr, you'll know why this took so long to publish. Updates might be inconsistent for a while, as it's extremely hard for me to keep track of the days of the week.

The next thing Mabel knows, she’s walking across the stage to graduate, and her uncles are in the stands celebrating as Dipper and Mabel got their high school diplomas at almost the exact same time. Everything had happened in a blur after that, celebrations and getting accepted into college, and they were nineteen with summer ending. 

Their other great uncle, Stanford, had finally come back when he heard the news about the twins parents, coming to offer his support, and one time telling Dipper when he thought Mabel wasn’t listening, to make sure that Stanley didn’t mess up raising them. That night, Mabel had made sure to give Stanley an extra hug so he would know she appreciated him.

He hadn’t shown up until they were sixteen, but he had still come back from his travels and studies to make sure that they were okay, even after the funeral was long since over with, and did his best. Mabel loved having a new family member to dote on and show just how much she loved them.

Then suddenly they were already in college just outside of Gravity Falls, each going to their own major and starting to live their own lives, but still staying with their uncles. Stan didn’t want to see them go just yet, not when to him the twins were still young and fragile, and still had scars from the car accident so many years ago. 

Sometimes, she thinks about the man, who showed up, more often when she was a kid than when she was older though . He hadn’t shown up since that night with the wolves, but Mabel was so busy finishing up high school and getting into college that she just didn’t have time to think about him. 

He wasn’t on her mind right now, not when she had class assignments and life to deal with, and the man hadn’t appeared around her in years. If Mabel  hadn’t known better, she would have thought she was overdue for a visit.

* * *

He was old. Older than some of the stars that shone in the night sky. He had brought countless people to their deaths, he had  lived  through the ages, always standing at the edge of society, never interacting with  the humans more than he had to.

Sometimes, when years slipped away from faster than he paid attention to, Bill tried to remember how he came to be, but all he could remember was just being. He existed, it didn’t seem any simpler. He had lived through all of human history, he accomplished a fair bit. But he wasn’t human like they were, no, he was something different.

He had experimented with how  much he could interfere, what he could cause. Touches were not allowed, that was the first thing he had figured out in his time alone, when no one seemed to hear him but himself. Back in those days, no one had even thought it was strange when people died, and so many people had simply died when he touched them, just trying to get their attention.

He could taste it in the air, the moment someone was about to die, when it was their proper time. Bill always knew where to be right before something tragic happened. He found himself walking a lot, always there right when tragedy struck and people were screaming.

They only ever saw him when he touched them.

Just in that brief moment, right when his skin made contact with their flesh, Bill would meet their gaze for the first and only time. Bill got used to it after a while, only able to do what he could simply by instinct, taking their souls into his hands when it was  their time.

He got to see them after that, not that Bill ever cared to. They were always asking questions he didn’t have the answers to. If their life was meaningful, if they made a difference, if people would miss them after they died. Bill absolutely  loathed it.

He came into the world with no name, not knowing what he looked like for centuries. Nothing phased him anymore, he had seen it all. He was so bored, after all the years, of seeing so many people do the exact same thing as their ancestors. If Bill had noticed anything though, it was that humans had a tendency to repeat history.

While he knew whose time it was, there was often a grey area in who he could take. Some souls, they were ready the moment their time came, eager to be welcomed into his hands  and create that blue fire that would pass them on  to another plane of existence. Some souls  would put up more of a  struggle, not ready to leave the world behind even if it was their time. Yet some souls were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, and Bill knew he could take those right then and there, even if they had more time to live. 

It was all a blur. He never realized how much time had passed until the humans around him were no longer living in huts but actually building civilizations. The more they developed, the more he resented them, watching them have families and creating and simply living. When they invented gloves and other fine clothing, Bill thought he might finally get something to  impede  his touch, but it didn’t work, nothing did.

“ Death doesn’t care who you are when you die. ” People told themselves, in hushed whispers in the  night, before  vaccines came to be and children stopped dying so rapidly. “Death only takes, it never gives anything.”

Bill had scoffed with no one to hear him, shaking his head. They were right though, Bill took and he took and he never cared who anyone was or what they might be. No one was anything to him, they were all just stupid humans who had no idea what they were doing in life. Their existences were nothing more than an annoyance to him.

He didn’t recognize her though, when he saw her standing in the road after almost being hit by a car. He had gone just where he was meant to,  and it was a surprise when the tragedy he had been expecting, simply didn’t.

She had looked right at him, but then another human   walked past him and Bill realized he must have been looking at the other human rather than him. He frowned, standing there for a while as she was unscathed and alive . It didn’t make sense to him, that his instinct had led him there and only for him to find he wasn’t needed.

He didn’t see her again for years, not until she was in the car accident. Those vehicles were the best things that humans had invented in a long while, they were always getting into accidents and causing more deaths. He had simply gone to the area as he always did when accidents happened, and waited.

The older humans in the car would have lived if he turned away. It would have taken  months and years of recovery, but they would have lived. Bill didn’t care, he had come out to collect souls as he always had, hearing the murmured whispers of the souls wondering if their children were okay before he tucked them away. Moving to her though, the unflinching gaze of hers had shocked him.  She stared right at him, pleading whispers asking for help and for death to wait for a moment longer.

Her brother had been due for him at the time. Bill knew at least that much, her brother had been due for death but his soul still clung to the body.  If the child had been ready, Bill would have taken him either way , but the shock from her gaze was still there, and Bill had no patience to put up with a struggling soul. Instead Bill just walked away, thinking he had finally gone crazy.

“She actually saw me.” Bill murmured as he walked away from the damaged cars, glass 

crunching underneath his feet. The ambulance had arrived moments later, prying the still living children out of the car and sending them to the hospital.

She was normal, just another human who seemed no more special than any other human. He had watched her for a little bit, wondering just what made her different than the rest of the humans that he had seen over the years, but she was just like everyone else, and it frustrated him to no end.

“This is stupid.” Bill muttered to himself when he watched her do nothing more than take care of her brother and make sure that  the girl  was healing right.

He had banished thoughts of her just like that, even if he had stayed close. Two near brushes with death,  both of which were as strange as they could be .  Looking into her soul, it seemed  that she was marked for death, from the very moment that she was born.

Every time he found himself thinking of her, he tried to dismiss those thoughts all over again. Time affected him a bit differently than for everyone else, and he wasn’t even thinking when he found himself sitting in a tree in the woods, waiting for whatever death was about to come next.

I t was her, again. Bill sighed through his nose as she managed to get into his tree, honestly wondering just what it was about her that drew her to him. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that she was trying to kill herself.

Oh, and how she tested his patience. Mabel, her name was, as though he didn’t already know it. Bill had no reason to rid her of the wolves that would have torn her to bits , and he had no reason for why he led her out of the woods and back to her home. Nor did he have a reason as to why he gave her the flower that  she had apparently been searching for.  Bill was death, he didn’t need a reason as to why he did anything. Not that anyone would have heard him say it.

She would have heard him.

Bill ran a hand through his hair, wondering how much time had passed since he had seen her last. She was always young, then again she would always be young compared to him, but she was a child. She was an adult, going out of town to get the education that humans seemed to think was necessary. Bill didn’t understand it, but then again he never had understood humans.

Bill almost lived in the woods outside of her home, always telling himself that he wasn’t watching her but simply waiting, waiting for the moment when he could think of anything to say to her. He had never actually talked to humans before, the longest conversation he ever had was when she was stuck in a tree with him. 

Time though, Bill had time. He had been there since the dawn of time, and it was always something he had plenty of .  Human lives had always gone by in a blink, and  though he looked over at her through the woods and saw s he went years without incidents involving him,  he still watched her. He watched her as death always watches over people, but he didn’t haunt her. He simply watched, though he did make a note to actually remain hidden from her so he wouldn’t be seen. 

She didn’t know it, but he was always there, as death was always  near . He could wait. He could wait as long as it took.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't ask me why it took so long for me to post this. If you're really curious, you can find the reason on my tumblr. Life is hard.


	4. Death is Honest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do really like this fic. Out of everything I've written, this has to be my favorite.

“Dipper! Can you cover my shift tonight?” Mabel yelled up the stairs, already throwing on her jacket to leave. She would probably be back in time for her shift to start, but if something happened then she would be covered.

“Again?” Dipper called back from the top of the stairs, fixing the cap on his head. “You just went out yesterday! I can’t run tours and ring people up at the same time!”

“Ask Pacifica to come over then! Candy and Grenda wanted to take me out!” Mabel pulled her hair back, braiding it for a moment before she just let it hang free instead. “Please?”

“Keep it down kids!” Grunkle Stan finally piped up from the other room, his voice cracking over the words and coughing a moment after. “I’m watching my shows.”

The twins turned to each other, both of them making hand gestures and Dipper rolling his eyes at Mabel’s own puppy dog ones. Eventually though, Dipper sighed and waved her off, leaving Mabel with a bright smile and rushing off.

“Bye Dipper, bye Grunkle Stan!” Mabel shouted to them as she grabbed her purse, and the bag she had packed last night. Dipper knew as well as she did that Candy and Grenda hadn't called her to hang out, but it wasn't time to argue about little lies that were told to keep Stan happy.

It had been many years, and it still hurt. Mabel supposed that some pains would always linger and never heal, such as the loss of parents who had doted and cared for them. Dipper had stopped coming with her years ago, when they turned sixteen and he told Mabel quietly while they shared a room that it was too much, that he would mourn on his own time. Mabel understood better than everyone else that everyone had their own ways to mourn.

It seemed to be the way to mark off every summer for her though. Mabel couldn’t imagine not making the trip every year to the cemetery over the hill, where her grandfather was buried as well. She always talked about the same things, her newest love interest, her friends, how Dipper was doing, everything she could think of.

Stanley used to take her when she was younger and couldn’t make the trip alone, and the first year she had cried and cried until her eyes were dry and her throat was sore, and Stanley had to carry her back to the car while Dipper was silent the whole time. Mabel wasn’t sure what changed after that, but she didn’t cry. Life was meant to be celebrated, not mourned, and she at least had memories of her parents.

Mabel walked down the old dirt road as she had done so many times before, not feeling the need to take the car since she had always been able to walk to and from the Mystery Shack with ease. When she had been younger, Mabel always thought it should rain on this day, that the world should be as sad as she was, but as she had gotten older, she realized that days burdened with tragedy were not often rainy and dreary.

“That day already?” Lazy Susan was always forward, no such thing as beating around the bush with her. Mabel nodded, putting on her best smile and ordering a slice of pecan pie to go. The pastry case still didn’t rotate after years of efforts of repair, even with Soos trying to make it work, and Soos could make anything work.

“Thanks, Susan.” Mabel took the pie and left a couple dollars in the tip jar, careful to not jostle the slice of pie as she exited the diner.

One of the strangest things that Mabel had noticed when she was older was the size of Gravity Fall’s cemetery. It stretched across a wide field near the Northwest Mansion, some graves old enough to simply be wooden crosses barely standing on their own. Once Mabel came through the cemetery to repair what she could while still preserving the integrity of the original graves. With the harsh winters that Gravity Falls had though, they were already starting to fall apart again.

“Hi mom, hi dad.” Mabel greeted softly, kicking off her shoes and already settling in for a long stay. “I got your favorite pie, dad, it was the last slice there.”

She placed the slice on top of the tombstone, brushing off dirt and leaves with her bare hands while she had a chance. They would need new flowers soon, and hopefully Dipper would get them some when he came to visit. She laughed lightly as she sat down on the ground, back against her mother’s gravestone so she could rest.

“I miss you guys. Dipper’s doing well, I just think he doesn’t want to think about the heavy stuff, ya know? I don’t blame him, but he’s always bottling stuff up.” Mabel shrugged, twirling her hands together and looking at her nails. “He’s still a nerd. Already almost finished with college and it feels like we’ve barely started. I already know Grunkle Stan is going to ask him to take over the Shack, but I don’t know if that’s what Dipper wants to do. I don’t even know what I want to do.”

She trailed off, huffing slightly when she realized that she was already on the heavy stuff when she had wanted to talk about new friends and the new guy she was talking to. College was all about casual dating, and she couldn’t help but make as many friends as possible. Mabel always seemed to get right to the heavy stuff when she talked to her parents.

“I wonder if you guys are happy. Say hi to Grandpa Shermie to me.” Mabel said softly, leaning her head back on the tombstone. “I didn’t bring any pictures this time, but I promise I will next...time…”

Mabel trailed off as she stared ahead, caught off guard by another figure in the cemetery. It wasn’t really that someone else was there with her, but who that someone was. He really hadn’t changed a bit, not since the last time she had seen him, or the time before that, simply seeming to be the same age as she was now instead of years older than her. Though, with how he looked the same, Mabel reasoned with herself that he didn’t age.

“Seriously?” Mabel muttered, getting up and brushing dirt off herself. The man wasn’t doing anything other than lounging about, completely at ease in the graveyard. “Why?”

He walked by, tapping graves with his cane as though he was listening for something, not noticing Mabel until she was barely a couple feet away. He looked over at her, staring blankly for a moment as though he was debating saying something, but Mabel spoke up first.

“What are you doing?” Mabel asked, almost wondering if he knew someone buried here. The man placed his cane on the grass, leaning against it slightly.

“Oh you know, stuff.” He waved his hand dismissively. “What are you doing?”

Mabel arched a brow, not sure if he was being serious until the silence dragged out and she realized he wasn’t going to say anything else. She gestured behind her, at the graves where her parents rested and her things were.

“My parents died today, a while ago.” Mabel didn’t want to think about how long ago it was. “They died in a car accident, before you ask. Are you finally going to tell me your name?”

The man seemed to pause for a moment, before he walked past her and towards the graves. Mabel followed behind silently, not sure what he was going to do, but all he did was look down at the headstones and only looked back at her when she took a seat on the grass near him.

“Bill.” He muttered. “My name is Bill.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Bill.” Mabel said softly. “I keep running into you, don’t I? Anything bad going to happen this time?”

He scoffed, shaking his head but laughed a moment later. Bill moved, taking a seat on a gravestone near her, not one of her parents or any member of her family, Mabel had to bite back the annoyed look at the disrespect for the dead. She didn't even notice how the grass didn't move underneath his footsteps.

They sat in silence, Mabel with her face to the sun and enjoying the peace, Bill staring at her and the graves around them. Each enjoyed each other's company, but neither of them felt a need to fill the silence in that moment. Normally Mabel was such a chatterbox, but some moments deserved silence.

“What do you think happens when you die?” Mabel asked after the sun had moved to the middle of the sky. Bill looked at her, sitting crossed legged on the tombstone and leading his head on his hand. His cane leaned against the ground, easily within grabbing distance.

“Nothing happens. You're dead, that's it.” Bill spoke flatly, shrugging. Mabel furrowed her brows, wondering if this was even a conversation she wanted to have with him.

“You don't know that.” Mabel muttered, almost biting the words. “You don't believe in heaven? What about hell?”

“They don't exist, kid.” Bill had the biggest grin on his face, like a cat who had just caught a mouse. “What, don't tell me you believe in them?”

“I think my mom and dad are happy, wherever they are.” Mabel said flatly, not liking the smirk he had on his face. “I know they are.”

“Then why ask me?” Bill countered, never looking away from her. “You wouldn't ask if you weren't sure.”

“Why is it a big deal to you? It was just a question.” Mabel wrapped her arms around herself, almost defensively.

“You asked, and if there's one topic I know, it's death.” Bill leaned his head back to face the sun, mimicking her.

She let the conversation fall once more, not even sure what she could say. Did he know death well? She felt like she knew what death was, after so many years. He never aged, he was always there when a tragedy happened, Mabel felt the pieces of the puzzle start to click into place.

“Are you dead?”

Maybe he wasn't alive at all. Mabel was suddenly bursting with questions as she thought about just what he might be, knowing Dipper would be excited to hear anything that Bill might be.

“In a way, I guess I am.” Bill said after a moment. He didn't say anything else, and Mabel curiously looked around her to find just the perfect thing for this moment.

Picking up a small stone, tossing it in Bill’s direction and watching it bounce off the blond’s knee. His eyes opened, looking from the sky to where she was, frowning down at her. Mabel gave a cheeky grin, not sure that he would let her get away with that.

“Well, you’re not a ghost.” Mabel laughed awkwardly. “You’re dead, but not a ghost, you’re not a zombie, and no one else can see you. I give up. What are you?”

Bill’s smirk returned just as quickly as it disappeared, and Mabel really wondered how quickly his moods could change if he went from happy to sad so easily. Bill picked up the rock, throwing it at her in vengeance before going back to relaxing.

“I’m what you humans call a grim reaper.” Bill eventually said. “If that makes any sense to your small mind.”

She almost threw another rock at him just for the comment, but instead listened to the birds chirp and the rustling of leaves on the trees. She wasn’t sure just what she should say now, whether it be Bill’s comment on what he was, or how he simply always managed to leave her at a loss for words.

“Am I going to die?” Mabel asked after a moment, pulling up grass between her fingers as she refused to look at Bill even when she felt his gaze on her.

“Not yet, kid.” Bill eventually mumbled. “Don’t worry about it too much.”

It was all she could think about now, wondering why a grim reaper was following her along in life, or if Bill had simply run into her on that many occassions. She didn’t say anything else though, leaning her head back on her mother’s tombstone and the grass making her fingers itch, while Bill sat a couple feet away, humming a tune she had never heard before but felt it resonate in her very soul.


	5. Death is Strange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updates, it's still exceptionally hard for me to keep track of the days of the week. Enjoy!

“So come on down and visit Li’l Gideon!” The television crackled, making Dipper  stretch out and kick it with his foot. The screen flickered for a moment before it came back to its normal resolution.

“Not so little anymore, is he?” Mabel asked with a tilt of her head, lounging on Stan’s chair and looking at Gideon’s image flicking on the television. 

He had filled out over the years, still retaining the fat around his face to make him look chubby but finally gaining height as well. He still wore the same  powder blue suit as he had when he was younger, and his smile was more of a smirk, but it was still Gideon. 

“Prison really helped him out.” Dipper mused, looking through his journal. 

When they were younger, Gideon had been so desperate for the book sitting on Dipper’s lap that he had nearly killed the twins. Prison actually worked to rehabilitate him, and with support from Mabel and a couple rousing speeches from Dipper, Gideon went from being a criminal to a fine young man, even if he still played with magic. 

“We should go see him.” Mabel poked her brother on the shoulder. “He invited us down there anyways.”

Dipper gave a grunt in reply, but didn't say anything about visiting Gideon. Mabel let the topic drop, finally paying attention to the television as it started playing the news, interrupting her show. Shaundra Jimenez was still the number one reporter in town after all these years, and now she was standing in what appeared to be the woods, policemen  behind her. 

“Breaking news, we're coming live from the upper part of Gravity Falls, where an unknown person was seemingly attacked by a bear. Bear attacks haven't happened in years, but this might be the first  of  many, as law enforcement has told me. They fear that the bear who attacked might be rabid, as always  everyone needs to be on guard near the wildlife.” Shaundra too eagerly reported, the first real piece of news that the town had gotten in years. 

Mabel leaned forward, just barely able to see past Shaundra  at the crime scene behind her. Blubs and Durland had marked it off with police tape, but the body was just barely visible on the screen, covered  with  a white sheet. Dipper had finally looked up from the journal, captivated by the news just as she was. The body looked like a blur, the white sheet stained red in some places where blood seeped through.

“Multibear?” Mabel asked Dipper, but even she had met the bear. He didn't attack unless he was provoked. 

“Couldn't be, he lives further down, near the lake.” Dipper shook his head, grabbing the remote from Mabel. 

“Any tips about what could be causing these attacks should be given to the Gravity Falls police force, this is Shaundra Jime-”

Dipper changed the channel to one of Stan’s favorite shows, silent now. The wonder of who it could be still lingered in the air, but neither of the twins spoke.

* * *

Golden eyes snapped open to stare blankly ahead at the canopy of leaves. Oregon was covered in wildlife, especially for  the  small town that Bill had resided in for a long time. He missed the  time  when humans were still struggling to live day to day, when they hadn’t reached areas like this and he could sit in silence for hours without being disturbed. After centuries of silence and his own thoughts, Bill found that being around other people was exhausting.

He felt a strange shift in the air, one he hadn’t felt for a long time. Bill slowly moved his gaze from the trees to  check his surroundings , taking in all the small details. It wasn’t the same feeling that  he felt when he knew a soul was ready to be taken, but it was nearly identical .

“I know you’re there.” Bill spoke to the silence of the woods, still watching, and waiting. There was no guarantee that anyone was actually there, but Bill’s  instincts  were never off.

“As you always do.”

There was a soft  _ thump  _ behind Bill, dead leaves and twigs cracking underneath the feet of Tad Strange. Bill didn’t move quickly, but turned calmly to see his old acquaintance. The two men stared at each other, neither certain of what the other should say first.

“What’re you doing here, Strange?” Bill leaned on his cane, sprouting an almost feral looking grin from Tad. There were too many teeth in that smile.

“I can't just visit an old friend? You really shoved that stick up your ass, didn't you?” Tad laughed heartily, almost bending over at the waist from the force of his laughter.

“We’re not friends, not anymore.” Tad ruined that like he ruined everything else, when they were young. Bill had lost track of how many years it had been, or maybe he had chosen to forget.

“You say that now, but here we are, talking again. Do you really want to go through our  dance once more?” Tad asked curiously, if not with an edge to his voice. 

“ A dance you always lose .” Bill snapped, not backing down as Tad stepped closer to him. 

“Then you won't object to one more?” Tad ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his eyes. “One last dance, between old friends?”

Bill almost growled, hand  whipping  out and wrapping around Tad’s throat. How he wished that the one person his touch  would  work on was someone other than Tad. Soul collectors were the only ones who could touch each other though. Tad let out a choked laugh, even when Bill moved and slammed him against a tree, hard enough for the branches to shake above them. 

“We are not friends.” Bill snarled, eyes almost glowing. “ We were at one time, but you ruined that.”

Tad choked on another laugh as Bill tightened his grip. They could stand there for hours with Tad pinned and struggling for air, but in the end nothing would happen. Soul collectors didn't die at the hands of other soul collectors. 

Even though his grip was tight enough to easily crush the windpipe of  a norma l human, it did nothing to Tad. After what seemed to be hours, Bill finally let him go, taking a couple steps back and resisting the urge to snap the tree nearest to him in half. 

“I'm not doing this anymore, Strange. I've had enough of it. Stop all of this mess, now. I won't be as forgiving as the last  time .” Bill ended up saying,  but there was no conviction behind the words . Tad even dared to scoff at them. 

Bill didn't have it in him to argue, because they had this conversation so many times before. It had taken him longer than he would ever admit to catch onto the act that Tad was playing, but he was determined. What happened in the past wouldn't happen in this town. 

“I do like it here. Secluded, cut off from the rest of the world. If something happened here, I bet it would take ages before someone noticed.” Tad laughed, rubbing his neck and his voice croaked. “I see why you settled here.”

“You're only here now because you followed me . ” Bill muttered, finding himself leaning against a tree of his own. “What do you want, Strange?”

“I want to be friends again.” Tad instantly said, a glimmer in his eye that put Bill on edge even more. “Just like old times.”

“Just like old times.” Bill echoes, his own voice almost soft. “ Nothing will ever be like those old times.”

“Why not? The past and present and future are meaningless, just like the humans we collect. None of them make any difference.” Tad scoffed. “We can manipulate them, why not manipulate the future?”

“It doesn't work that way and you know it doesn't. The past is the past and the future is the future. Just leave it be and move on.” Bill retorted, but his words seemed to have no effect on Tad. “No matter what you do, they won't see you until they're already dead.”

Tad’s face darkened, looking away from Bill. There was a time when they were the same, when they had just encountered each other , born with the dawn of man. Yet while Bill was cruel as death always was, he had been able to see what humans could do. He hadn't wanted to take their lives the way Tad did. 

“I didn't sign up for this way of life, why don't I at least make it enjoyable for myself?” Tad snapped at Bill. “Not like you're doing anything in this stupid little town.”

Bill didn't reply, biting his tongue so he wouldn't continue with the argument. Arguments with Tad had a way of bringing more bloodshed rather than resolutions, and Bill wanted to stay in this town while it thrived. He had been here with the first settlers, and with how many accidents happened, he could stay here for a long time. 

“I don't want to play this game anymore, Tad. It gets old.” Bill sighed through his nose. “I'm not playing around this time. If I hear you're killing people here, I will end your existence.”

Tad bowed at the waist, a flourish of a movement that made Bill roll his eyes. It was a lonely existence, staying alive  only to take the lives of others, but there was something in this town that Bill had  been  worthy of protecting, and he would never let Tad take it from him. 

“I'm sure you will. Hell, maybe we can even work on being friends again. Once I find out what makes this town so important, of course.” Tad’s feral grin was back, too many teeth and not enough smile. “You've never defended a whole town before.”

Bill shrugged, as nonchalant as ever. He would take down Tad as needed, but until then he could see if his former friend would be able to make a change in himself, and Bill was already planning for a failure. 

“I like it here. Just like you said, it's isolated, nothing happens here.” Bill muttered. “Sure makes my job easier.”

Bill went back to sitting in his tree, higher above Tad. Tad didn't make a move to follow, but he did watch Bill with amusement in his eyes. 

“Sure, Bill. I'll do a little watch around town, and find out just what  this town is like.” Tad crossed his arms over his chest. “It's nice talking to someone again.”

Bill silently agreed, that even though it was Tad Strange he was talking to, it was nice to have someone to fill that silence. He needed to visit Mabel when he had a chance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, please, please comment, I really need the encouragement. I can't beg enough for those comments.


	6. Death is Condescending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I miss writing these two. If anybody has any ideas for stories for these two, feel free to tell me. I'm all ears.

He was forty nine when he died, and Mabel never knew his name. He was mostly gossiped around town for actually marrying a woodpecker, though it was mostly gossip about how his woodpecker wife was cheating on him with another woodpecker.

Mabel still remembered meeting him when she was younger, and when she had still been all about the stars and glitter and stickers, even then she thought he was a strange man. She never understood why he wanted to marry a bird, or if that relationship actually did anything for him. It didn’t matter anymore though, not when he was dead.

A small circle had been set up where they found his body, after the crime scene had been cleared away and the police gave the okay. People brought little things to remember the man by, a picture, a carved piece of wood, something that reminded them of him and gave them a semblance of peace that the soul had moved on to whatever waited for it. 

Mabel didn’t really talk to him that much. She didn’t feel obligated to go and pay her respects, but she still went, carrying a couple pieces of art that she had made for him in her hands. Over the years her art had improved, and now she carried a wonderful scenery of a landscape, a woodpecker, and the best mental image of the man she had never bothered to learn the name of.

Other people were there, bringing gifts to the small effigy and leaving them there. Mabel placed her drawings with the rest, wondering how strange it would be if she just stayed silent or if she said a couple words to the open air. Was he at peace? Did he suffer? Mabel had no idea, but she was already thinking of someone who might know. 

“Do humans always do this?” A voice piped up above her head, just the person she was thinking of. “Leave little gifts where someone died?”

“If someone died suddenly, yeah. Haven’t you ever see the crosses on the side of the road?” Mabel stepped back from the tree as Bill jumped down, just looking down at the objects left. 

“I have, but only some humans do that. Why do you grieve for someone you don’t even know?” Bill returned, using his cane to knock around some of the items carelessly. 

Mabel gave him a sharp glare, bending down to fix the items and place them back in their proper places before anyone noticed. Bill watched her piece things together, not making a move to help her.

“I knew him.” Mabel protested. “You really need to learn some bedside manners, you shouldn’t touch these things, they’re left here for him.”

“See, you’re not getting what I’m trying to say, why leave these here? He’s not going to see them, he doesn’t care. He’s dead.”

Mabel sighed through her nose, straightening up when she fixed the last of the items and put them in their proper places. Bill watched her the entire time she moved, almost moving back to ruin the display again until Mabel glared at him.

“I’d ask how you know that, but I already know that.” Mabel muttered. “We don’t know what happens when we die, so we do this to hope that they can see it and know we remember them.”

Bill paused, looking down at the items and Mabel was actually sure that she had gotten through to him. He did move a couple items with his cane, but didn’t knock them over or anything. Mabel stood awkwardly to the side as they stood in silence.

“That’s stupid.” Bill eventually said, either not noticing or not caring for the hurt that flashed across her face. “They’re dead, they’re not going to suddenly come back to life when you leave them little trinkets and cry over how much you miss them.”

“Oh my god.” Mabel pinched the bridge of her nose. “You don't get it at all, that's not what-”

“Mabel?” The mayor stood behind her, slight frame bent over at the waist as he placed his own trinket down at the memorial. “Who’re you talking to?”

Bill’s laughter cackled behind her, and Mabel couldn't help but flush with shame. She swallowed thickly, trying to make her brain catch up with what was happening around her. She was trying to remember if anyone had seen Bill before, but now she was really starting to think she was crazy. 

“Um...Bluetooth.” Mabel mumbled, gesturing vaguely with her hand near her ear. Tyler nodded, accepting the excuse easily. 

“See you later!” For the memorial that was going on and the dull atmosphere, Tyler still almost skipped away like he had heard the best news. He didn't even notice that Mabel didn't have anything in her ears, not even headphones. 

“You're face! That was just great. Let's go do that to someone else, make them think they're crazy.” Bill cackled with laughter, wiping tears from his eyes, Mabel didn't see any real tears. 

She crossed her arms, turning away from Bill with a huff, shame making her cheeks still tingle with a blush. Bill was so wrapped up in his own laughter that he took a second to follow after her when she stomped away, pointedly not looking at Bill. 

“What's wrong now? You humans are so sensitive. Every time I look something new offends you.” Bill sighed, hooking the handle of his cane around her arm to try to make her stop. Mabel shrugged it off. 

“Hey.” Bill frowned when he realized he was being ignored, a strange feeling that made his chest hurt ever so slightly. 

“Hey.”

He was only a half step behind her, as dangerous as that was. She could stop suddenly and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from crashing into her. Bill moved so he was walking next to her, once more hooking his cane over her arm. 

“I know you can hear me.” Bill muttered, real anger building up. She couldn't ignore him, she wouldn't ignore him. Not when she was the one who started all this by seeing him. 

“Mabel!”

She spun to face him, a frown on her lips and her hand reaching out to smack him as though he was an irritating fly. Bill’s cane met her hand just before she touched him, just a couple inches between them with the way her chest was heaving and she took one step forward. Her eyes were shining and bright, and Bill found himself almost captivated at the sight. 

“Careful, kid. I don't do the whole touch thing.” Bill took a careful step back, much too close to her. She reeked of life, her breath hot against his skin and radiating off of her. He couldn't remember being so close to a human when they weren't on the brink of death. 

“People are going to think I'm crazy, talking to you. What am I saying? I'm already crazy, in talking to someone who doesn't exist!” Mabel threw her hands in the air. “I can't believe you just laughed.”

Bill rolled his eyes, tuning her out within seconds of her rant starting. He wondered if other soul collectors had found humans like her, ones who could see them and the work that they did. He wondered if all humans were as loud and boisterous, and if they were all like her. He knew humans were all ‘different’ but they were so alike as well. 

“And now the figment of my imagination is ignoring me. Isn't that swell? This is just what I signed up for when I came here today.” Mabel started walking away from him again, shaking her head and her long hair almost looking like waves down her back. 

Bill followed after her, rolling his eyes at her antics. All she was doing was making more people stare at her, but not in the good kind of way. Their gazes pierced right through Bill as they landed on Mabel, watching her walk away with words of anger still on her lips. 

“Do you ever stop talking?” Bill eventually asked when she took a breath, immediately making Mabel’s jaw snap closed and glare at him. He laughed at a little at her discomfort, not thinking about how he could reassure her, or if he even wanted to. 

“Look, kid. If you want to think I'm imaginary, go ahead. If not then I'll be here. I'll still be here even if you decide that I don't exist.” Bill shrugged slightly. “Now stop talking to yourself, did you really not notice how you were the only one who could see me?”

Had cheeks turned a dark shade of red that almost made him laugh once more, but he held it back so she wouldn't get upset with him, again. Humans were so easy to mess with, or maybe it was just her. She got worked up about so little that he was finding he had a new source of entertainment. 

“I'd ask you to prove how I wasn't crazy, but honestly I'm just scared you're going to go and kill someone for fun.” Mabel muttered, running her hands through her hair. Bill's fingers twitched with the desire to copy her movement. 

“Don't know where you got an idea like that, kid.” Bill cackled, twirling his cane between his fingers. “I'm not a voice in your head, I'm not a figment of your imagination, and I would like to know as well as you as to why you can see me while others can't.”

She huffed slightly, turning away from him again but this time not taking the extra effort to ignore him. Bill took the time to walk silently next to her, not trying to get her attention but taking the chance to observe her. 

In another world, another life, she would have been anyone else. She would have been a human who wasn't able to see him, who did nothing more than live their pathetically normal life and died when she was meant to, or when Bill decided she should die. He couldn't think of one reason why she might catch his attention if she wasn't able to see him. 

“What're you thinking about?” Mabel asked softly, looking up at the canopy of trees. The woods were so thick in some parts that the sky wasn't even visible, just the thick green of leaves and branches. 

“You.” He answered after a moment, seeing no reason to lie or hide the information. Mabel looked at him with an expression he couldn't read, but it made his cheeks almost heat up. 

“Does nothing really happen when we die? We're just dead?” Mabel looked away from him, stepping over a branch before it could trip her. The roots looked like fingers trying to grab her ankles. 

“You have a soul, if that's what you're wondering.” Bill muttered. “I shouldn't be telling you things like this.”

“You've already told me a lot. What's a little more?” She decided not to press the issue, it seemed, changing the topic almost immediately. “Do you have a soul?”

The glare that she got from Bill made her grin, though it probably wasn't the best topic to change the conversation to. Bill’s brows furrowed, thinking about the question he had pondered over the years in silence. He had never spoken to someone who didn't avoid the questions like he did. 

“I don't know.” Bill bit out the words as though they were hard to say, and to him they were. He prided himself on knowing so much, but the knowledge he had of himself was limited at best. 

They fell into silence, neither speaking until they had reached the Shack. She hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the soul collector for a moment, unsure what to say. Bill bowed to her, a flourish of a movement that made her smile, before she finally left. No words were needed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on [tumblr](oilux.tumblr.com) for more updates!


	7. Death is Southern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Bill in this chapter, sorry about that, but some key plot stuff instead! Enjoy!

There was still an air of mystery about the Tent of Telepathy that the Mystery Shack couldn’t quite compete with. After so many years of arguing and fighting, Stan had made his peace with the Gleeful’s and the two former competing companies now worked together to share the tourists. Though Stan still seemed envious of all the creepy clown paintings, even if he didn’t keep them for long after he stole them.

“Welcome, one and all! My son is just gettin’ ready for the show, y'all wait right here.” Bud Gleeful laughed as though they would wait anywhere else, only giving Mabel and Dipper a surprised glance. 

The Mystery Twins had come early to the show to get a good seat, only because they knew having tickets wouldn't guarantee them a great seat. It was open seating in the Tent, with Gideon's shows almost immediately selling out the moment tickets went on sale. Dipper hadn't wanted to go with her at first, but he would rather deal with Gideon than have Mabel go alone to his show. 

“Oh I can see, what others cannot see, it ain't no sideshow trick, it's innate ability!” The lights went dark, the curtain was pulled, and Gideon was suddenly on stage with no warning. The trademark line he always opened shows with was almost immediately drowned out by applause from the audience, screams and cheers of delight pouring from their lips. For having once ruined their trust, it was almost crazy how easily Gideon had managed to win it back. 

The song went into its normal chorus, Gideon's smile only growing when he spotted Mabel in the crowd. She gave him a cheery wave as he picked out random facts about the townsfolk, even if most of it was common knowledge. Still, for the tourists it was something they had never seen before. 

“Welcome y'all, I've missed being on stage so much, that I wanted to let y'all know that I was comin’ back to Gravity Falls permanently. I just can't do without this little ol’ town.” Gideon’s voice was almost immediately swept away by the thunderous applause that took over the Tent, silencing Dipper’s groan of disappointment. Gideon had a tendency to travel when he wanted to, and now that he was back, he would be sure to visit Mabel. 

“We love you!” A lady screamed from the back, met with a chorus of agreements from everyone else. Dipper and Mabel almost looked out of place with how quiet they were. 

“I love y'all too, don't you worry. Now, to get things started, how ‘bout a lovely volunteer from the audience?” Gideon didn't even look at the whole audience raising their hands, just down at Mabel and Dipper in the front row. Mabel gave him a small wave as Dipper rolled his eyes. 

“Come on up here, sugar plum.” Gideon stepped off the stage, offering Mabel his hand with a wink and eliciting yet another groan from Dipper. She laughed, knowing he was only picking her because she knew all his tricks. Whenever Mabel was there, she ended up being pulled on stage by Gideon. 

“Now, everyone knows it's residential sweetheart, Mabel.” Gideon helped her on stage, standing next to her. “And she knows all my tricks! Can't have that, can we?”

There were a chorus of boos from the audience that made Mabel smile awkwardly, nerves tingling in her gut now. The first time he had ever pulled her on stage, Gideon had asked her before the show and told her what he was going to do, but now she was going in blind. It was enough to make Dipper sit up straighter in his seat and watch the show intently. 

“Now folks, we can all say that some things are more fascinating than others. Let's see just what our little Mabel's capable of.” He snapped his fingers, and in a puff of grey smoke a simply wooden chair appeared. Gideon ushered Mabel to sit in it, taking his hand to wave over her head. 

“No wires! Now everyone stay quiet, you're ‘bout to see real magic.” 

For a moment, everyone was quiet. Mabel expected the chair to rise a couple feet into the air and levitate, but nothing happened. Gideon had a smirk on his face that Mabel had learned not to trust a long time ago, and the seconds just seemed to drag by. The audience got more and more restless as nothing happened, until something finally did happen. 

The chair didn't float. In fact it remained glued to the floor as Mabel was unaffected by gravity itself. She gasped, clutching to the top of the wooden chair so she wouldn't go flying to the top of the tent. The people in the audience gasped with her, watching her and leaning forward in excitement. Dipper stood, but was quickly waved off by the people who urged him to sit back down and stop blocking the show. 

“Don't worry, darlin’ you'll be fine.” Gideon laughed. “Just pretend the floor is lava!”

She made a face at him just as her hand slipped, her grip failing. She didn't go flying to the cloth ceiling of the tent, but hovered about ten feet in the air, almost like she was sitting there. 

“What does it feel like?” Gideon asked her, even as Mabel crossed her arms in a firm pout. She couldn’t even describe what it felt like.

“It just feels like I’m sitting down.” Mabel ended up saying, an opinion that made the crowd break out into thunderous applause once more. At this point, it seemed as though they would applaud at anything.

Gideon stepped forward, kicking the chair out from underneath her. Mabel was left hanging in the air for a moment until whatever spell was broken, and she fell from the air and right into Gideon’s waiting arms. He laughed as he caught her, stumbling back a step as he adjusted to the new weight in his arms. The crowd still roared with applause as Gideon placed Mabel on her feet, finally letting her take her seat back in the audience with her brother.

The rest of the show was normal. Gideon gave false predictions that would probably come true simply because they were so general. Mabel rolled her eyes as she heard a couple details come out that she would never care to know, from people willing to overshare simple details about themselves for a glimpse of the future.

“Y’all come back now!” Gideon ended the show, disappearing into a puff of powder blue smoke and a bow. Mabel snapped back to attention as she realized the show had ended, most people already starting to file out of the tent.

Dipper and Mabel moved to the front of the stage, Mabel taking the initiative to simply walk backstage and ignore everyone asking what she was doing. Gideon must have recently gotten a new crew, his old crew knew her by name and from all of her previous experiences there.

“Mabel! Did you like the show!” Gideon was always one to get too close to comfort, wrapping his arms around her in a hug before Mabel could pull away or even think so say no. She could hardly breathe through the hug.

“I did.” She managed out, only after Gideon finally let her down. “Wasn’t expecting the whole chair thing though. That’s new.”

“Have to entertain somehow!” Gideon took Mabel’s hand, brushing off how she pulled away from him barely a second later. “What brings ya two down ‘ere today? Been in town for a week now, though I’d see ya sooner.”

“We’ve been busy.” Dipper said before his sister could even say a word, not that Mabel would have disagreed with him. 

“Oh, ya two bein’ weird again? Heard there was ‘nother murder out there.” Gideon muttered, moving towards his vanity and taking off his jacket. Mabel followed after him, dragging her brother along with her.

“Wait, another?” Mabel asked, glancing between Dipper and Gideon. Gideon’s face was soft as he looked at her in the mirror, but Dipper was staring hard at the ground as though it would answer for him.

“Whatever’s killin’ people, it’s gotta be rabid or somethin’. Animals just don’t attack people.” Gideon ended up saying, breaking the silence. “Ya two looking into it?”

Mabel glanced at her brother, who nodded without question. Dipper always researched what happened in the town, and had solved so many of their problems without even being asked. Mabel grinned at Dipper, excited they had another adventure. It had been too long since they explored the town they already knew so much about.

“Someone else died?” Mabel asked after a minute, only getting a small nod from the boys. When Gideon didn’t speak up, Dipper took the initiative. 

“Toby Determined, but no one’s really sure if it was a bear or something worse…” Dipper trailed off with a sigh. “You know how this town is, they’ll just blow anything out of proportion. It’s probably just a rabid bear.”

Mabel bit her lip, accepting Gideon’s arm around her for longer than she normally would have, but she was still afraid that would get the wrong idea about her feelings towards him. She could consider talking to Bill about this, what was going on, but she didn’t want to bother him.

“It’s probably nothing.” Mabel ended up saying, more to reassure herself than to either of the boys. Gideon nodded with her, while Dipper just sighed.

“Anyways, we just came down to welcome you back to town.” Mabel said, gently patting Gideon’s arm for a moment. “We should be heading out now, what with the investigating we have to do and all that.”

“Course, sugar plum. Y’all come back anytime you want. There’s always tickets for my favorite members of the Pines family.” Gideon laughed, though he did seem saddened that they had to leave. Mabel didn’t offer to stay though.

“Thanks, Gideon.” Mabel laughed, moving with her brother to leave quickly. “We’ll be back soon!”

Gideon opened his mouth for a moment as though he was going to say something, but then pulled back and simply nodded. Mabel left with her brother, thinking of Toby Determined, who she had never disliked but neither liked either, and wondered just what kind of animal, rabid or not, would kill two people. Strange things had happened in Gravity Falls, but it had never seen two murders in such a short time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all follow me on [tumblr](oilux.tumblr.com) for updates and sneak previews on what I'm writing next!


	8. Death is Annoying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, another hint into the life of Bill and Tad. Enjoy! Now I'm going to go and watch the new season of Voltron.

Mabel’s breathing was a bit ragged as she walked through the woods, this time with no destination in mind. She couldn’t really say that she had wandered through the woods with destinations in mind before, but she would always have the intentions of not getting lost. She wandered through the trees though, confident enough in her skills that she wouldn’t get lost but not caring at the same time.

She had barely known Toby, or at least Mabel felt like she didn’t know him. She wasn’t close to him, but she knew a lot about him, more than other people cared to know. She knew he wanted to be a tap dancer, that he had scoliosis, that he had a crush on Shaundra Jimenez. 

The small funeral for Toby was closed casket, and two people had attended. Mabel knew he wasn’t popular, and she hadn’t been one to really support him, but it had been a shock for her to stand there at the casket and see empty seats next to her. No one said anything to wish him goodbye, and Bill made no appearance there. It was cold, it was lonely, and Mabel never wanted to go through anything like it ever again.

“You should move.” The voice appeared out of nowhere, making Mabel jump and her stride to stumble before she stopped. She stared up at Bill, who was sitting in a tree a couple feet above her head. 

“I’m sort of already moving, aren’t I?” Mabel asked instead, looking down at her feet that had stopped. “You know what I mean.”

“Not that, you should move out of this town. Have a fresh start. Move into a dorm at your college or something.” Bill shrugged. “Why stay stuck in one place when your life is so short?”

“It’s short to you.” Mabel muttered, rubbing her forehead. It was a short life for humans as well, but she didn’t say that. “Are you going to speak in riddles because I’m really not in the mood.”

Talking with Bill was stressful, to say the least. That nagging feeling that he was just a figment of her imagination wouldn’t go away, and Mabel really didn’t have a way to make him either disappear or to tell people about him and thinking she was crazy. She thought it was so much better to just keep quiet about him and let her mind think what it wanted to.

“It’s not a riddle, or is it? I’m simply saying you should move.” Bill twirled his cane between his fingers, staring down at her with his golden eyes that almost seemed to glow. “If you don’t want to take my advice then-”

“Billy! You’re not going to believe what I saw today.” A new voice joined the conversation, cutting off Bill from what he was going to say and almost singing the words that came out of his mouth. Mabel looked at the new man in shock as he appeared from the trees, not even glancing at her.

“I’ve told you not to call me that.” Bill muttered, crossing his legs and irritation flashing in his eyes. “Is this even important?”

“It’s more important than you talking to a girl who can’t hear you. I thought you got over that?” Tad returned instantly, ducking as Bill threw his cane right at his head. It just barely missed Tad and landed on the ground near Mabel. 

“You’re an idiot. When you figure it out, let me know.” Bill rolled his eyes, jumping down from the tree. Mabel had seen him sitting in a lot of those, she realized.

“Figure what out?” Tad glanced at Mabel, not even noticing how she was already staring at him. His eyes flittered over her like she was nothing. 

“My point.” Bill rolled his eyes once more. “Dearest, would you hand me my cane?”

Mabel’s cheeks just barely tinted with pink at the nickname, bending down to pick up the cane as Tad finally looked at her with shock in his own eyes. Mabel met his gaze easily as she handed Bill his cane back, taking the time to make sure her fingers were nowhere near where Bill could accidentally brush against them. 

“She can’t.” Tad muttered to Bill, almost whispering as though Mabel could and would eavesdrop on the conversation. 

“She can.” Mabel said, faking a gasp, hand over her heart. “Whatever will you do when you realize a mere mortal can see you?”

She laughed as Bill smirked at her, with a proud spark in his eyes as Tad’s shock turned to anger just as quickly. He stretched out his hand as though he was going to offer it for a shake, but only frowned further when Mabel took a cautious step back and Bill took it upon himself to place himself between her and Tad.

“She can see us? Been a long time since we encountered one of those, huh, Bill?” Tad’s frown turned into a smile in the blink of an eye, wrapping his arm around Bill’s shoulders as friends do. Mabel just shrugged, not sure how to comment.

“She can. Mabel, this is my...friend, Tad Strange. Tad, this is Mabel Pines.” Bill gestured between Mabel and Tad, not bothering to shrug off Tad’s touch. He knew it would do him no good to argue or refuse contact, Tad would just insist on more. 

“Nice to meet you.” Mabel said automatically. “Are you like Bill? A grim reaper?”

“Grim reaper? Bill hasn’t told you much about what we do, has he?” Tad gave Bill a disappointed look, making Bill roll his eyes. Mabel was starting to keep track of how many times Bill rolled his eyes around Tad now.

“She hasn’t asked. I’m not exactly eager to spill everything out on the floor like you are.” Bill muttered. “Now, you’ve interrupted us talking and made an ass out of yourself, can you leave now?”

“Oh? Is that jealousy I hear?” Tad laughed, once more wrapping his arms around Bill’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, I won’t let some human steal you away from me.”

Bill groaned, eyes shutting in annoyance for a moment and just missing the glare that Tad sent Mabel. She automatically took a step back, a chill going down her spine and fear making adrenaline race through her heart. Bill looked at her curiously, looking back at Tad who’s glare had faded into just a normal stare.

“Well, if you two want to be all cozy and friendly, I should probably go.” Mabel laughed, but it sounded a bit forced. “I was just wandering around anyways.”

“What? Don’t mind Strange, he’s just a little off kilter at times.” Bill gave Tad a sharp jab in the ribs with his elbow, and the other soul collector gave a wheezy laugh as he stepped back.

“Oh, it’s nothing, I just didn’t want to interrupt.” Mabel ran a hand through her hair anxiously. Tad was staring at the two of them, but Mabel and Bill could only stare at each other. 

“I think I was the one interrupting, wasn’t I?” Tad asked, not even shy about leaning too close to Mabel once more. “It is lovely to meet you, Miss Pines. I’m sure that we’ll get along great.”

Mabel nodded awkwardly, not even sure that she could explain the sudden dread in her gut. It was like having competition even though Bill had never looked away from her the entire time Tad had draped himself over him. Mabel just shrugged slightly, not looking at Tad more than she had to. Being in the woods didn’t feel as welcoming as it did before.

“What are you doing out here anyways, Mabel? You have a tendency to get lost.” Bill ended up breaking the short and awkward silence that had fallen over the group. 

“Just felt like walking.” Mabel ended up saying, trying to focus on Bill and not the way that Tad was staring at her like his eyes would burn holes into her. “I actually needed to talk to you about something anyways.”

She couldn’t very well hunt him down, not when she didn’t want her family see her talking to empty air. Mabel considered herself lucky that the mayor hadn’t talked to anyone else about her, otherwise the whole town would be filled with rumors on how she didn’t have a sane bone in her body. Tad once more had his arms around Bill, staring at her with a small smirk when Mabel’s gaze drifted over the contact and felt a bit of envy spark through her.

“Another person died, they said it was a rabid animal or something.” Mabel waved her hand dismissively, as though she knew it could be something a lot worse. “I just...I don’t know. It’s worrying me. Is there really a monster out there just killing people?”

Bill’s frown was prominent, but Tad’s smirk only seemed to grow. She felt a bit stupid bringing it up now, with how Tad was staring at her, but it didn’t stop bothering her just because someone was judging her for that. 

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Bill reassured her, shoving Tad off him once more. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll look into it. Have you seen anything, Tad?”

“Oh, you know how that disease rabies is just wonderful with it’s madness. It’s just a wild bear.” Tad shrugged. “You humans worry over the stupidest things.”

Mabel’s cheeks warmed with shame, arms crossing defensively in front of her for a moment. It was as though she should be ashamed of worrying over something perfectly normal to worry about, shamed for doing something so human. Mabel made an effort to like everyone she met, making friends with everyone in town, but in a couple short minutes, she had decided that she didn’t like Tad Strange.

“Strange, enough.” Bill muttered, sighing through his nose. “He’s right though, Mabel, it’s probably nothing.”

Mabel nodded, not looking at Bill when he took Tad’s side so easily. She brushed off the feelings of hurt, not sure she could even be upset when she could barely consider herself friends with Bill.

“Yeah, you’re right. Guess I’m just being stupid.” She gave a small, sad smile, one that seemed to make Bill second guess what he had said, but she was already turning away. “I’ll be heading out now. Nice seeing you, Bill.”

She didn’t offer Tad a goodbye, and Tad didn’t bother to give her one either. Talking with Bill normally made her feel better, but now she was left with an ache in her chest and unrest in her stomach. Bill didn’t call out for her as she continued her walk in the forest, and Mabel didn’t expect him to, but she wished he had. 


	9. Death is Hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Friday, another chapter! Enjoy!

“This is the third death that has happened in just under a month in Gravity Falls, more than this small town has seen since the Great Flood. It’s unknown at this point whether or not it is a rabid bear causing these deaths, but the police urge anyone with possible information to come forward. Once more, police urge everyone to remain cautious, and to not go out after dark.” Shaundra Jimenez was one more on the Pines television, talking about another recent death that had happened in Gravity Falls. 

Mabel rested her head in her hands, her brother standing next to her and turning off the television when it went to another report about the upcoming Pioneer Day. They had no interest in the celebration, not with the recent deaths hanging over their heads.

Three people, who had been parts of the community and now destroyed the safety that the small town had once held. Three parts of the community that would never be the same again. Mabel never realized how much Toby Determined had contributed to the community until he wasn’t there asking his ridiculous questions with a turkey baster instead of a microphone.

“This is ridiculous.” Dipper rubbed his forehead, as though that would get rid of his premature worry lines. “They’re reporting a death when they haven’t even identified who it is.”

“What, it being a tourist makes it better?” Mabel asked instead, her tone sharp enough to make Dipper wince. 

“That’s not what I meant.” Dipper sighed, voice now a bit strained. “I’m just worried. I don’t think this is some rabid dog.”

Mabel was silent, but agreed with him. She wasn’t sure that even a bear could do this, not with the murder and everything else. It was too far apart, it seemed too planned for it to just be a random animal attack.

“We should go and talk to Blubs and Durland. No doubt they’ll want our help at this point.” Dipper threw the remote on the chair next to Mabel, almost hitting her with it. 

“Dipper, relax. We’ll talk to them and get this sorted out.” Mabel thought that they were almost like police officers themselves. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“The worst that could happen―Mabel! It could be some psychopath living in the woods, it could be some mythical creature that could be harming people because it doesn’t know better. I just want to get this taken care of before it hurts anyone else.” Dipper fixed his hat on his head, shaking his hair out slightly. “Let’s go.”

Mabel saw no reason for argument, but just wanted to get out of the house and investigate as much as Dipper did. Things had always been strange in Gravity Falls, but now she thought she could at least help out in making sure that weirdness didn’t turn deadly.

* * *

“Don't go in there.”

It was the voice of someone she hadn't seen often before, one she had only heard once. Dipper pulled up to the entrance of the police station, heading inside quickly before he even glanced at Mabel to see if she was following. She was, until Tad appeared next to her, leaning against the doorway to the police station. 

“Just looking after Cipher’s investment.” Tad explained when she didn't say anything to him. “But by all means, head inside and ignore my warning.”

She had nothing against Tad, and Mabel liked making friends with everyone, but something about him stirred in her gut wrong and made her want to get as far away from him as possible. He stared at her as though she was a piece of meat about to be devoured. If his smile didn’t show off a set of perfectly straight teeth, she would have thought they’d be sharp like a sharks.

“I can’t just leave my brother there.” Mabel muttered, stepping around him and heading inside. Tad didn’t follow after her, and when she glanced back as the door slammed shut, he wasn’t there anymore.

“Mabel! You’re here too.” Durland came over, wrapping his thing arms around her in a tight hug. Mabel laughed, patting his back gently before pulling back. 

Dipper was already pouring over the documents the police had, which they handed over to him without a question. She had no idea how he got such a repor with the police, but she was just along for support this time.

“Good to have the ol’ Mystery Twins back at it.” Durland slapped Dipper’s back, making him wince in pain. “You guys have always been helpful.”

The nickname that Mabel had given to them at one point had really caught on over the years, after Dipper had stopped denying the nickname. She entertained the nickname now, but after the years of people taking the names of their own, it had stopped being as special as it was before.

“Can we see the body?” Dipper asked, moving and snapping a couple of the manila folders shut with a snap. 

“You’ve never asked to see that before.” Mabel argued, not even sure that she could go down there and stare at the dead bodies. Dipper frowned, but it wasn’t directed at her, more at the situation itself. Blubs was already rising, heading towards the basement of the police station, also known as Gravity Falls only mortuary. 

“The report talks about strange marks, and I want to know what could count as a strange mark when this is apparently an animal attack.” Dipper muttered, following after Blubs when Durland started to grow impatient waiting for him. 

The men disappeared into the basement, and Mabel was left standing in the police station by herself. She chewed on her lip anxiously for a moment, before slowly moving after them and heading into the chilled atmosphere of the morgue. 

Blubs and Durland had already pulled out a body from the wall, the body that had once inhabited the soul of the man who had married a woodpecker. Mabel could see clean cuts decorating dead white flesh, making her stomach turn.

Not for the first time though, she thought her brother should be a police officer or a detective. He stared down at the body with emotionless eyes, seeing it as nothing more  than a vessel for him to examine. He didn’t touch the body, just staring down at it and ocassionally moving his head so he could see from a different angle. 

“These cuts, I see what you mean. They’re too clean to be from an animal.” Dipper said more to himself than to the police officers or his sister. “Anything else unusual?”

Mabel took a deep breath, not paying attention to what the police were saying to Dipper now. She had no idea what could be so important as to talk about it, not when there was a dead body so close, someone that they once knew. 

Looking at them though, it just became apparent how much she was the only one affected by the body. Mabel took a deep breath again, trying to work up the courage just to walk over to the body. It took her a minute, but she managed, standing there unnoticed by the men.

The lips were blue, and the eyes looked sunken. Anything that ever said it was alive was completely gone. It wasn’t the man who had arguments with a woodpecker. It was just a body that had once held a soul, and Mabel wondered just how Bill managed to do his job and see the light leave peoples eyes.

On the body, the stomach was almost caved in, and it was clear to see where the skin had been pulled taught to simply stitch up the wound. Some cuts were jagged and broken, unable to be stitched together without ruining the evidence. There were cuts on the outside of the arms, cut in zigzag lines. Mabel could imagine him raising his arms in a last minute hope that they would save his life. 

“They’re inconsistant. Are you sure you found the body right after he died? Some of it might have been caused by an animal after he died.” Dipper asked, breaking the small silence as he pulled out his phone to take a couple pictures. The small camera flash from his phone was completely out of place in dim lighting of the morgue.

“It was only like an hour.” Durland explained. “The body was still warm.”

“The body can remain warm for a couple hours after death. Did anyone take the temperature of the body?” Dipper recieved silence for his answer. “I don’t know what I expected.”

She started chewing on her lip once more, never taking her eyes away from the body. She considered herself friends with everyone, but it was easier to not think of this man as her friend, but as he was now, a dead body.

Dipper raised the hand of the body, and Mabel didn’t see what he was looking at for a second. Then, the camera flashed again and she could see the flash through the palm, seeing a slit through the hand that went all the way through to let her see the orange of Dipper’s shirt. Mabel covered her mouth with her hand, biting back bile. There was a matching one on the other hand now that she looked at it.

The rest of the cuts though, they looked too meticulous in some places to be caused by an animal. It was curving, sharp lines that decorated the chest and neck, some just shallow enough to barely leave a hint of a line, but other times deep enough to carve through muscle tissue. She could see more of the inside of a body than she ever wanted to see.

“I don’t think a bear did this. Can you get a real mortician in here to see if any wounds were made post mortem? If the scratches were made post mortem, then it can let us know if a bear caused it. I can tell you this right now, something human was involved in it.” Dipper pushed his phone into his pocket, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Can we see Toby?”

Mabel almost retched, face turning an ugly green color that even made Durland pause as he pulled out the drawer holding the body of Toby Determined. She shook her head when they asked if she was okay, racing up the stairs and rushing outside where fresh air was a blessing. 

“Told you not to go in.” Tad voiced, laughing as she nearly threw up against the side of the police station. Mabel didn’t glance at him, squeezing her eyes shut as tears threatened to spill, more and more vomit rising in her throat by the second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't leave me hanging for those comments, and don't forget to check out my [tumblr](oilux.tumblr.com) for more updates!


	10. Death is Mysterious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Enjoy!

“So what's up with Tad?” Mabel asked as she leaned against the rough bark of a tree, feeling it dig into her skin. “He’s like you, right?”

“He is like me.” Bill was throwing stones, glittering bright things. When Mabel tried to glance at them to see what they were, Bill angled his hands away from her so she wouldn't see. 

“Okay, well what's  _ up  _ with him then? He doesn't seem...normal.” That felt awkward to say, but it was already out and she had no way to take the word back. Bill let out a mirthless laugh, now aiming the stones at a nearby bird. It was a nightingale. 

“We are not normal.” Bill spoke flatly. “What did you expect?”

“I don't know, he's like unstable or something.” Mabel almost groaned. “How long have you known him?”

“Why all these questions about Tad? Have you seen him recently?” Bill’s voice had something in it that Mabel couldn't identify, something that made her shift in place and avoid staring into his eyes. 

“No.” The lie rolled out heavily from between her teeth. “I was just curious.”

Bill made a noise in the back of his throat, and Mabel refused to meet his stare. “You're lying, Mabel.”

She winced a little, but refused to look up. She didn't want to tell Bill that Tad had been outside the police station, that something just seemed  _ off  _ about the other grim reaper in a way that she couldn't describe. If Tad was anything like Bill though, she shouldn't be surprised that the man was a bit off key, not with the task he had at hand. 

“I am a couple hundred years older than Tad.” Bill eventually answered. “Or are we closer in age? I don't remember, it's been such a long time.”

Bill went back to flicking rocks, and Mabel finally got a long enough glimpse to see they were gold in color, the color that Bill always adorned when he wasn't dressed in black. He was a strange man. 

“You don't like him.” It was said as a statement made towards Mabel about Tad, and she said nothing to deny it. Tad wasn't like Bill, there was no unsettling edge to Bill, or maybe she had just yet to see it. “Don't talk to him unless I'm with you.”

“I won't.” It wouldn't be a hard promise to keep, Mabel had no intentions of going near Tad again unless he magically appeared. She hoped he would leave her alone, but something inside her knew it wouldn't happen. 

“Mabel, did you hear me?” Bill frowned, almost pouting at how she ignored him. Mabel laughed slightly, shaking her head in apology. 

“Sorry, what's up?”

“There's that phrase again. I don't understand it. The sky is above us, are you unable to see that? Maybe you should see a healer.” Bill brought his cane to her chin, staring into her eyes until Mabel batted it away. 

“It's a phrase, Bill, I can clearly see the sky.” Mabel rolled her eyes. “What's wrong with Tad?”

“Nothing’s wrong with him.” Bill snapped, and Mabel leaned back as though the words would really bite her. “Nothing’s wrong with him.” Softer this time, as though convincing himself. 

“Okay.” Mabel eventually agreed. “How long have you two been friends?”

“Why are you so interested in Strange? You have an endless source of information right next to you but you want to know about him?” Bill scoffed, and if Mabel hadn't barely heard the defensiveness in his voice she would have thought that he was actually hurt. 

“I was just curious.” Mabel admitted. “Every time I ask you something, you get defensive.”

“I do no such thing.” 

“Are you lonely?”

Mabel almost slapped a hand over her mouth as Bill completely froze at the question. Mentally, she reprimanded herself for asking such a stupid question, knowing she herself wouldn't answer the same question presented to herself. 

“You don't have to answer, sorry.” Mabel waved her hand just as Bill opened his mouth, sure to be full of denial. “What's that blue thing that you do?”

“Blue?” Bill’s face was full of confusion, before understanding overtook it. “Oh, the blue. It's souls.”

“Those are souls? Oh my god don't tell me you eat them.” Mabel’s gasp was dramatic and her mind raced towards new things that she hadn't thought of before. Did Bill eat souls? Was he just trying to get hers? A sharp pain on the back of her head snapped her out of her thoughts, Bill had smacked her with the head of his cane. 

“What was that for?” Mabel whined, bringing her hand up to rub the forming lump on the back of her head. Bill scowled. 

“I don't eat souls, you inconsiderate human.” Bill’s voice was as sharp as a razor’s edge. “They're disgusting.”

“Alright, alright, sorry I asked.” Mabel just couldn't say anything right with Bill today. She gripped the branch of the tree, using it as leverage to rise despite the way the bark dug uncomfortably in her hand.

“I'll see you soon, Bill.” Mabel waved, and Bill only stared, not offering a goodbye or a request to stay. Mabel shoved her hands in the pockets of her sweater. 

“Mabel.” Bill’s voice cut through the silence of the forest, still a razor’s edge to it. “Remember what I said, don't talk to Tad unless I'm there.”

Mabel nodded, her throat dry as this warning seemed so much more threatening than the last. Bill moved to where she had just been, leaning his head back against the wood, and Mabel traveled down the well worn path towards home.

* * *

Dipper spread his notes out on the floor in front of him, trying to examine every page at once and yet take in all the details as well. Mabel channel surfed behind him, knees against her chest.

“Dipdop, do you have to do that now?” Mabel sighed. “You've been sitting there for like two hours.”

Dipper grunted, taking a couple papers and bringing them closer to his face. Mabel rolled her eyes, trying to focus on the television in the brief moment when it wasn’t talking about some rabid bears in the forest and random people dying off.

“There’s been four.” Dipper muttered, as Mabel pretended not to hear. “They’re all  _ slightly  _ different but not really, they all have the same way about them, the same brutality, the same cuts and marks. It’s just like the killer is choosing their victims at random. They’ve all been guys so far, so there’s that, but if he chooses a woman next, who knows…”

“How do you know it’s a guy?” Mabel muttered, just throwing Dipper off simply because he wouldn’t  _ shut up.  _ “Dipper, stop talking about this.”

“You know if I don’t help the police they won’t be able to find who did this.” Dipper didn’t even glance at her. “I think it’s a guy because men are more likely to commit these types of crimes, as well as take down men this size.”

“Sorry I asked, Sherlock.”

Toby Determined, the woodpecker guy, and two bikers who frequented the bar that the twins had once snuck in when they were kids. Mabel didn’t recognize them from the pictures that had flittered across the television on the news. Mabel took her time aiming, throwing a pillow from the back of the couch at her brother.

“Mabel, I’m reading!” He glared at her, but Mabel shook her head at him, sticking her tongue out and getting the exact same reaction from Dipper, though he was a bit more childish.

“Alright, alright, I’ll go and read somewhere else.” Dipper started grabbing papers, all in a mismatched order as they came together in Dipper’s hands.

“Dipper! Come sweep out the gift shop! Slacking on your chores.” Stanley’s last words were a grumble, as though he thought they couldn’t hear them from where they were. Mabel laughed a little at the pained expression on Dipper’s face.

“Don’t touch my papers, Mabel, they’re important.” Dipper warned, and Mabel flapped her hand at him as he walked away. She wasn’t interested in his notes, but as Dipper left the papers seemed to stare at her, almost taunting her.

Mabel huffed and changed the challenge. Stanley’s favorite show,  _ The Duchess Approves,  _ was on, but it was merely background noise. Would it be so bad to check out what Dipper was doing, to see if she could help? Images rushed through her head, of the dead body of Toby Determined and other people, all making her stomach twist and turn with anxiety. 

She slid down to the floor, glancing through the notes. All of them were mismatched notes, chicken scratch writing that Mabel could hardly make out despite knowing her brother so well. Sometimes there would be lines between notes, connecting two random thoughts together that Mabel would have never taken a second glance at.

She hardly paid attention to Dipper’s notes, flittering through pages that truly held no meaning. Mabel wasn’t sure what she was looking at, or even what she was looking for as well. It wasn’t the notes she was looking for, Mabel quickly realized, she was looking for the pictures.

They spilled out from between the pages easily, landing in her lap. Mabel picked them up with slightly shaking fingers, seeing stark white flesh against the cold metal background, the only thing with a bit of life being Dipper’s hand as he posed the bodies. 

She understood immediately why Dipper was so obsessed with this. The marks were done in such a way that it almost seemed ritualistic, careful curves that took time to place. Mabel traced her finger over a line, able to see how deep it ran just from the photograph. It was easier to see it through the pictures, and not in person. 

They reminded her of runes, Mabel realized. One time they had been in some old horror movie that Stan had put on, and Dipper complained the whole time about how inaccurate they were. Mabel brought out her phone, snapping a picture of the photographs, despite how low quality it was.

“What’re you doing? I thought you didn’t want to help.” Dipper leaned over her shoulder, glancing down at the pictures. Mabel dropped them all, almost feeling a burn in her fingers from them as they scattered on the floor in front of her.

“I was just curious.” Mabel shrugged nonchalantly. “Did you sweep up?”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t need you on my back too.” Dipper grumbled and sat down next to Mabel, taking the time to organize his papers properly. “Do you want to help?”

“Like Mystery Twins?” Mabel asked excitedly. “Remember when we used to solve all the best mysteries?”

“We can still do that.” Dipper argued softly. “C’mon, let’s solve this mystery, it’ll be just like when we were little.”

Before their parents were gone and Dipper didn’t spend his summers reading an old book with mythical creatures in it. Mabel flipped through the pages of his notes instead of the pictures. There was comfortable silence between them.

“Hey, Dipper? Did you ever think about how many times we like, got really close to dying?” Mabel traced the edge of her thumbnail along the edge of a paper. “I never really thought about it before, but with everyone in town…”

“Not really, why think about something we don’t have control over?” Dipper shrugged slightly. “We die when we die, we’re not going get to chose when we die. I’ll live with that for now.”

“But I mean, there’s the time we almost got hit by the car, the car accident, there’s that time I got lost in the woods, and when you found the Gremoblin, or what about the time with Gideon? Why do we always have all these times when we almost die?” Mabel didn’t realize that she was clutching the papers so tightly until Dipper gently pried her fingers off of them. 

“I mean, yeah, we’ve had a lot of run ins, but nothing really close, right? Besides, we always get out of it easily. Except the car accident.” Dipper shrugged. “It’s almost funny that you’re the one bringing this up, you’ve had more brushes with it then me.”

Dipper organized the papers in his hands, not even blinking at the silence that came from his sister. Mabel didn’t have anything more to say, her thoughts consumed by the connection she hadn’t made before until her brother spoke of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my [tumblr](oilux.tumblr.com) for more stuff! 
> 
> Also, super important, it's getting to the point where I get so few comments on my work that I'm starting to not see the point in updating. Please, comment below!


	11. Death is Cruel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work and school is keeping me _extremely_ busy, so the time that I have for writing has been limited quite a bit. I'll try my best to update, but please be aware there will be a long time between updates on other fics.

Mabel ran a hand through her hair, wincing as her fingers caught on a couple knots. She hadn’t brushed it this morning before she was already heading out the door, spurred on a need to leave and wander without a destination in mind. She was sure her hair looked like a rats nest now that she was out and about, but all it did was elicit a sigh from Mabel and a less rushed pace. 

The only place that offered coffee was Greasy’s Diner, and Mabel greatly wished for an actual coffee shop where she could get any kind of espresso drink, but she was stuck with regular coffee in a styrofoam cup. It was dark and made her tongue acquire a burnt taste that she didn’t like at all, but it was all that was available.

The heat poured from the cup into her fingers, the slight chill in the air of upcoming winter making goosebumps break out over her skin. Mabel didn’t want to have to think about winter exams at school or anything of the sort, but she suddenly wished that it would snow.

“Do you ever do anything?” Bill fell into step beside her, and if she wasn’t so used to it she would have been frightened by his sudden appearance. 

“What do you mean?” Mabel asked instead of answering. The park was almost deserted, and Mabel took a seat on a bench. Bill sprawled out next to her, with less grace than normal. He almost seemed tired to her.

“You always just wander around, or talk to me. Seems boring.” Bill inspected his nails. “Are you a boring human?”

Mabel snorted, shaking her head and taking a sip of her coffee. She pursed her lips at the taste, instead opting to place it to the side and focus her attention on Bill. She didn’t think she was a boring person, but according to death she was.

“Why do you think only I can see you?” Mabel asked instead. Bill’s eyes snapped towards her, a little surprised. Mabel only shrugged, briefly wondering if she had asked this question before. 

“I’m not sure. The last time I met a human who could see me, it was in the middle of a plague. She was not exactly welcoming to my presence.” Bill mused aloud more to himself than to Mabel. She didn’t say anything, staring down at her knees.

“Did you love her?” The question was out before she could take the words back, cheeks flushing with shame but no regret. Could a grim reaper even feel love? Bill didn’t look at her, staring instead at a tree as birds hopped around the branches. 

“I didn’t. She was just different, the same way you’re different from the rest of the humans. I have no doubt they’ve all encountered people the same way that I’ve encountered you.” Bill tapped his fingers against his knee in an almost rhythmic pattern. 

“What happened to her? Did she die of the plague?” Mabel’s voice was soft, almost tentative. Bill’s fingers stopped tapping for just a moment, before they started up once more as if they never stopped. 

“She wasn’t happy. Thought she was going crazy, thought she might have a direct link to god to be able to see the devil himself.” Bill’s voice was exceptionally soft. “She tried to have me banished, didn’t understand that I was just there doing my job. Tad took care of her.”

Not for the first time, Mabel wished she could reach out and offer some form of physical comfort, something that would make him feel better. Yet all she could do was sit there in silence, and wonder what ‘take care of’ meant to Tad and Bill, if it was something darker than just death.

“I’m sorry.” Mabel said softly. The birds were chirping cheerfully with no care to their conversation. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

They were both quiet then, with bad coffee cooling between them and the sounds of nature between them. Eventually, Bill shrugged, as though he could physically brush off the memories. Mabel watched him out of the corner of her eye.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t mind going crazy if it means talking to you.” Mabel said softly. Bill let out a soft sound, that Mabel almost didn’t recognize as a laugh, moving his cane to rest between his knees.

He didn’t say anything, but the small smile on his face was more than enough for Mabel. She reached into her bag, pulling out a small granola bar, also known as her breakfast. Mabel picked at it, not really eating it but more or less throwing it to the birds when they realized she was willing to give them food.

“Why do you think I can see you though?” Mabel asked after a while. “I was talking with my brother the other day, like have you ever realized how many times I’ve almost been killed?” Mabel threw her hands in the air, emphasizing her point. A small bird fluttered around her head as she waved her food around, obviously disgruntled by her movements.

“It might just be that, Mabel, that you’ve been so close to death all your life.” Bill watched the bird fly around her head. 

“Yeah, I mean I remember seeing you when I was little when I almost ran out in front of that car.” Mabel shrugged, throwing more granola towards the birds. They chirped happily at her.

“I don’t think you remember the amount of times I’ve seen you.” Bill didn’t elaborate further, but Mabel wasn’t sure if she wanted to ask. “It’s nothing important in the end, I suppose.”

She took a bite of the granola and the bird next to her on the bench chirped irritably as though she had personally offended it by eating the food she was handing out. Mabel laughed softly, breaking off a piece and carefully offering it to the bird, who tentatively took it out of her hand. As soon as the bird realized that no hard would come to it if it fed right out of her hand, it was bouncing near her, chirping excitedly. 

“So do you know when everyone’s going to die?” Mabel didn't look at Bill as she asked, concentrating on the bird. It was another nightingale, maybe the same one as before. 

“Yes.” Bill answered without hesitation. “I know the lifespan of every creature on earth the moment I see them. Sometimes I take their souls, other times I do not.”

“Why wouldn't you take someone's soul? Does Tad?” Mabel did turn this time to face him. Bill didn't look at her though. 

“No, I mean sometimes souls will struggle, and I will leave them be.” Bill explained. “Take your brother, for instance, in the car accident. Your brother was meant to die, but his souls absolutely refused to accept it. I could have struggled and taken it as I was meant to, but I didn't want to deal with a struggling soul.”

“Why not? He only lived because you didn't take his soul?” Mabel thought back to the nights spent at the hospital, Dipper with a tube down his throats as he recovered. It shook her to the core, knowing he was only on borrowed time. 

“I had no desire to deal with a struggling soul when I saw the first person who had seen me in centuries.” Bill shrugged, not glancing at Mabel, not seeming to realize that his words were having such an effect.

“When’s my brother going to die?” Mabel choked out, and finally Bill looked at her, brow furrowed, confused as to why she would be so upset.  Her granola bar was crumpled up in her hand, the nightingale sitting on her knee and picking at the bar through her fingers to get the seeds.

“You don’t want to know that.” Bill eventually said, moving his gaze to stare in disgust at the bird on her knee. Mabel glared at him, unclenching her fist so the bird’s meal wouldn’t be ruined.

“Tell me.”

Bill didn’t look at her, or give any indication that he heard her. Instead, he reached out, and Mabel didn’t have enough sense to think to move away from his touch, his hand heading towards her knee. She realized all too late as she jerked away, in what would have been a second too late, that she wasn’t his target, but the small nightingale was. 

The bird fell to the ground with a soft thump, barely heard in the noise of the park. It didn’t move. Mabel didn’t move, she hardly breathed. Bill leaned back with a small mutter, but Mabel didn’t catch anything other than ‘disgusting’ fall from his lips.

“What the  _ hell  _ is wrong with you?” Mabel spat, bending down to pick up the bird. Bill’s cane snapped out in front of her, almost smacking her hands. Mabel didn’t move past it. 

“Disgusting little thing. It was annoying me, chirping and hopping around. You don’t know what kind of diseases it has.” Bill’s voice was almost monotonous except for the small layer of irritation in it. 

Mabel stood, throwing the rest of her granola bar to the rest of the birds who descended upon it without thought. Bill looked up at her in surprise, but didn’t move to follow her, almost seeming to wilt slightly under her anger.

“You had no right to do that.” Mabel’s voice was too calm, even to herself. “You have no right to decide who or what lives or dies.”

“It’s just a bird.” Bill defended, voice as weak as his argument. His fingers still had the softest tinge of blue about them from the life of the bird.

“It’s not just a bird, it’s my brother’s life, it’s my parent’s life.” Bill didn’t seem to care, only shrugging his shoulders. “It’s  _ my  _ life. Am I only going to die when you decide it’s time?”

“I don’t know why you haven’t died already.” Bill muttered, almost pouting. Mabel groaned, reaching up and tugging at her own hair. 

“You don’t get it! You can’t play with people’s lives like this. You can’t decide when someone should die, it’s not right.” Mabel almost shouted, just barely getting control over herself when she saw someone enter the park and break their time of solitude.

“It’s just a bird.” Bill repeated, slower this time, as though she was an idiot.

Mabel glared down at him, at the grim reaper who hadn’t even risen during their conversation, before finally turning to leave. Bill didn’t follow or call after her, watching her form until it was gone, and all he was left with was the birds sitting in trees and the corpse of one lying at his feet.

Carefully, with more care than one would have thought considering how he threw around his cane, Bill leaned down and picked up the body of the bird, the warmth seeping into his fingers. Bill never realized just how cold he was until he got to hold something that once held life in it, and no matter how many times he had this moment, it always surprised him as much as it did the first time.

“A poor little dead bird, all alone in the world.” He set the bird carefully on the bench next to him, the limp body easy to move. “No one will miss you when you’re gone.”

He had to wonder, if he was talking to the bird or to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow my [tumblr](oilux.tumblr.com) for more updates!


	12. Death is Time Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because it's Dipper's and Mabel's birthday, I decided to post this chapter a day early! Also Sacanime is this weeked and I know I won't have time to post tomorrow. Anyways, enjoy!

Bill felt no heat from hot water, or coldness from ice. The only time he ever felt heat or any semblance of warmth was when he touched bodies after he took their souls. There was a time when he discovered how nice that warmth was, he couldn’t help himself. He touched every person he came across, he held their still warm bodies until the warmth was gone and he moved to the next victim. Bill had leveled villages, he had taken down civilizations, he was known by so many names, whispered in the night as warnings to children.

God, how stupid all of them were. Fighting battles that didn’t matter and giving over their lives for nothing more than a cause that wouldn’t matter in a hundred years. They simply didn’t give up, that much was to be admired about the humans, if only they weren’t so annoying. 

He loved the stories in the middle of the night, of the whispered tales of terror as everyone knew to fear death. Young ones were the people who never feared him, who thought they would never die, until they actually did. Those were his favorite souls to take.

Tad had come into his life then, like a bright star. Bill didn’t have a name, but Tad had given him one, finally a presence that could actually talk and touch and didn’t mind him at all. They had been inseparable.

“What’re you thinking about?” Tad leaned forward, brushing hair out of Bill’s face. Without thinking about it, Bill leaned into the fingers that had no warmth, only felt like pressure against his skin.

“Old times.” Bill ended up saying. “When we first met.”

“Those were the best times.” Maybe Tad was as touch starved as Bill was, for he leaned against Bill, the branch of the tree swaying slightly underneath their weight. Tad’s hand rested on Bill’s knee, the other hand’s fingers twitching like he was searching for something.

“Everything was simpler back then.” Bill said. Tad nodded, and Bill was imagining long brown hair of a girl who said she wouldn’t mind going insane as long as it was with him. Bill tilted his head slightly to the side. 

Bill’s mind sifted through thousands of memories, each one a second in time he would never forget. They were all different, a different soul and different body that Bill hardly ever thought of. He wouldn’t normally care either. His thoughts were demanding.

“You’re thinking too hard.” Tad’s nails dug into his knee, but it wasn’t painful. There was no pain, there never was.

“Do you ever think about everything we did together?” Bill returned, prying Tad’s fingers away from his knee. “All the people we killed.”

“It’s our job.” Tad countered, eyes narrowing. “It’s what we’re meant to do in the world, why think about it too much? There’s nothing we can do to change our lives, we’ve tried.”

Bill nodded slightly. Tad didn’t answer his question, it was possible that he simply didn’t want to, but Bill knew Tad as well as he knew himself. He knew when Tad was ignoring a question, just as Tad knew when he wasn’t paying attention.

“We’ve killed thousands of people.” Bill said, voice carefully blank. “I’m not talking about our job, I’m talking about the people we killed, the ones who didn’t have to die that we took anyways. Those people.”

“What does it even matter?” Tad asked, exasperated. “They’re dead, they don’t mean anything, they never did. Why are you asking now?”

Bill shook his head, but he didn’t even have a reason for why he was asking these things. He had never hesitated before ending someone’s life before, not when it was their life and not his own, when he could care less about the people he was effecting. 

“It’s because of that girl you’ve been seeing, that strange one who can see us.” Tad muttered. Bill bit his tongue to not say her name. “You need to leave her be, let her live whatever life she has left.”

The movement was so fast, even for Tad, that before either of them knew it, Bill and Tad fell from the branch to the ground, Bill pinning Tad easily, but Tad not trying to escape. Bill’s face was set in a frown, lips drawn back in a snarl, while Tad stared up at him with nothing but amusement.

“That soul is mine, it has been since it was born into the world with  _ my  _ name on it. Touch her, and I will end you.” Bill hissed between his teeth. Tad’s mouth twisted with amusement, before laughter burst from his lips.

“Oh, oh you’re so precious, caring about one particular human more than the rest of them.” Tad teased, his smile stretched almost frighteningly wide. “I’ll tear her soul right out of her body and feast on it in front of you.”

Bill almost growled, throwing himself back and away from Tad. He breathed deeply, calming the rage that settled in his gut as Tad rolled on the ground laughing. The tension in the air was palpable, Bill could feel it settle on his shoulders.

“Humans have life that’s valuable, they have something worthwhile, it’s why I left you Tad, I can’t sit on the sidelines while you do such cruel things.” Bill’s words made the smile fall right off Tad’s face. 

“Why protect a human who has no value? Why even bother? You think she wants you? She only wants to know you so you won’t take her life when it’s time! She should have died when she was young and you know it!” Tad’s screech made birds fly off the branches. “You don’t know what you’re getting into, what she’s  _ done  _ to you!”

“It’ll be no worse than what I already carry as a burden.” Bill ended up saying. “I’m serious Strange, stay away from Mabel. If I find out you’ve been near her, I’ll end you myself. I’ve done it before to our kind.”

Tad glared up at him, all signs of playfulness gone. Bill stared down uninterested, not willing to back down from protecting the human. After a moment, Tad sat up, wrapping an arm around his knee and staring up at Bill, face blank with indifference. 

“You'd diminish our numbers even more? We're the only ones keeping the humans from destroying this pathetic planet.” Tad stared up at Bill with playfulness. “What will you do to stop me?”

“Don't you ever think ten minutes ahead? What will you do when there's no more humans? When the whole reason they exist gets thrown out the window? They've almost died thousands of times, what will you do then without them?” Bill ran a hand through his hair. He wished he wasn't wearing gloves so he could feel the texture. 

Tad glared down at the forest floor, almost wishing it would offer the answers to the questions that Bill had asked. When nothing came, Tad sighed, shrugging once more and grinning up at Bill with the same smug grin he wore everywhere. 

“And what will you do when she dies? When another soul that sees you moves onto another life, and you're left with just me? As much as you like to think otherwise, we’re meant to be, Bill. Even centuries and our duties couldn't keep you away from me for long.” Tad almost sounded smug. 

“You sought me out! You're always the one who finds me, who...does this. This is what happened last time.” He started off strong, but by the end his words were weak, barely above a whisper. Tad scoffed, not realizing the severity of Bill’s words. 

“She was making you weak, I had to take care of her. You were leaving me, you weren't doing your job. The others were talking. It was her or you.” Tad laid back, eyes sliding shut. If Bill didn't know better, he would have thought Tad was dead. They both knew better though. 

“Just like this girl is doing to you now.” 

Bill froze, his gaze almost vacant as he stared off into space. He wasn't weak. He had stood by Tad through centuries, he had helped level civilizations and almost ended mankind thousands of times. 

“I am not weak.” Bill snarled. Tad smirked, not even opening his eyes. 

“Then take care of the problem. Take her soul. The last girl, that sweet one you had your eyes on, her soul was the best one I've ever had.” Tad smacked his lips together, the noise was obscene. 

“You  _ devoured _ her soul?” Anger having fled as quickly as it came, Bill felt nauseous at the thought. Tad laughed at him. 

“Don't look so revolted, we used to feast on souls for years. Those times were my favorite.” Tad sighed at the memories. “I wouldn't let a soul like hers go to waste.”

Bill smacked Tad on the side with his cane, but all Tad did was laugh at him. The threat was heavy in the air, resting on Bill’s shoulders. He glanced down at Tad, quickly looking away when their eyes met. 

“We shouldn't stay in this town long anyways.” Bill ended up saying. The smirk that graced Tad’s face was enough to ease some of the tightness from Bill’s chest. 

“We never do. Besides, who cares about some crummy little town in the middle of nowhere? No one will even notice it's missing.”

* * *

The television screen flickered to life above Lazy Susan’s head, the static fading just enough to reveal the scene. The patrons of the diner went on with their business with no concern of what was going on the television, even as the normal day time show was interrupted for the news. 

“This is live from the edge of the woods of Gravity Falls, where another body has been found.” Shaundra Jimenez looked more alive than she had in years, cheeks pink and eyes bright. Glasses clinked in the diner, murmurs of conversation carried on. 

“The police are asking anyone with information to come forward in this desperate time. Please call the number on the hotline for further information, how you can help. They also remind everyone not to go out late alone, and to keep yourself safe.”

The murmur of the diner didn't stop. It hasn't descended upon them yet, that this wasn't a rabid bear attacking people, that one of their own would be truly hurt. So far, it had only been the forgetful, the outcast people no one spared two glances at. 

That would soon change. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 2-18-15-11-5-14 8-5-1-18-20 6-9-24-5-4 23-9-20-8 12-15-22-5 9-19-14 20 19-16-1-18-5-4 2-25 4-5-1-20-8
> 
>  
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment and follow my [tumblr for more info and updates!](oilux.tumblr.com)


	13. Death is Everywhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there's some blood and death in this chapter. 
> 
> Another chapter down! Enjoy!

Dawn settled comfortably on the horizon, people just barely starting their day. A few unfortunate souls were already awake, admiring the sunrise as they prepared for another day in the sleepy town. 

If one went deep enough into the woods though, they would hear something other than the peaceful chirping of birds and signs of life. They would have come across something that wouldn't have made sense, but then again they wouldn't have lived to tell the tale. 

“Why are you doing this?” Screams had made the voice a hoarse croak. The figure above him laughed. 

The knife cut flesh as easily as the wind stole warmth from a body. There were four more knives, one imbedded in each hand and deep into the earth by Robbie’s head, and two more slicing through his ankles and keeping him pinned. He had stopped trying to struggle when he realized that it only caused him more pain to try to escape. 

“Please, Tambry’s probably wondering where I am.” The figure almost laughed as they realized Robbie was trying to bargain. 

“I'll pop out those eyes of yours next if you don't stop talking.” The figure said, and Robbie snapped his jaw closed so fast they both heard teeth click together. 

Once more knife let flesh, but unlike last time when they had started, Robbie no longer flinched. Besides a visible shudder, there was no reaction. Blood stained the dirt. 

“Please…” The knife nicked bone, and Robbie cried out in pain. “Stop, please.”

“What did I just warn you about?” The knife moved from his ribs and the blade scraped across his cheek. “Aren't you happy my face is the last one you'll see?”

Robbie tried, that much was obvious, to clench his eyes closed when the knife approached them. The knife sliced through eyelids as easily as it did with the rest of his flesh. Life started flickering out of Robbie Valentino. 

“They always taste the best when they've suffered.” Tad Strange laughed, tossing the knife to the side. He had discovered this only a short while ago, and had yet to tell Bill. He doubted he ever would. Bill wasn't interested in hunting souls anymore. Tad’s smile was wide, teeth glittering in the light, though Robbie couldn't see it. 

Robbie Valentino thought he knew pain at that moment, when the knife finally pulled away and he was only left with ragged breaths trying to push past his lips. In his final moments of life, he realized there was something worse than knives and claws. 

There were teeth.

* * *

A hush had fallen over the town. It didn't take long for them to find the body of one Robbie Valentino, and as soon as an identity was made the police notified the family. For the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Valentino were somber as they prepared a funeral. 

Suddenly, this wasn't as closed off as it had been before. It wasn't the work of a rabid bear, the police said. The people of Gravity Falls were forced to accept that someone was there, specifically targeting people, bringing an end to their lives. There was no one at the diner that day, the town seemed empty. Those who did go out, looked over their shoulders and stared with suspicion at everyone they came across. 

Tambry, the poor woman who didn't even get the right to call herself a proper widow, had barely even put herself together to make an identification. Mabel had never seen her cry before, and the news channel was broadcasting it as though it was a soap opera. 

Dipper was sitting next to her on the couch, sharing the same blanket and a bowl of popcorn nestled between them. Mabel's tears were falling onto her sweater, a stain trying to form from the salt, but Dipper sat there blankly, before he took the remote and changed the channel. 

“Maybe now people will pay attention and think before they go out.” Dipper angrily muttered. Mabel shot him a glare. 

“Our friend is dead and that's what you have to say?” She smacked his arm, but there was no force behind it. “Tell that to Tambry, she just lost him.”

Dipper glared down at his lap, and Mabel wasn't sure if her words were right until he was brushing away tears from his own cheeks. Robbie and Dipper hadn't gotten along when they were younger, but that had changed, they moved on. They had both lost a friend, Mabel more so. 

“Poor Tambry.” Mabel said softly. She brushed the tears from her cheeks, but as quickly as they formed, more fell to take their place. 

Dipper practically threw himself off of the couch, stalking outside with a slam of the door. Mabel flinched at the sound, curling up further on the couch for only a moment before she flung herself off the couch, much like her brother.

Stan didn’t call out for her as she walked outside, without shoes on and her pajamas. Mabel whimpered, trying to find a certain person in the woods, but it was always a hit or miss if Bill would even be there.

“Mabel?” His voice was soft, staring down at her from above. Mabel couldn’t see the Shack behind her, and as soon as she saw Bill she was sinking down to the forest floor.

“It’s not some rabid bear, is it? Someone’s actually hurting people, someone’s killing people and they have no idea who it is.” Her voice came out in a croak of unshed tears. Mabel didn’t even see Bill jump down from the branch above to be next to her. 

She had known, of course, that it wasn’t some bear or dog attacking people. Life was hardly as easy as the movies made it out to be, where unknown forces could be blamed for most of the tragedies. A harsh sob racked at Mabel’s shoulders, and if she was looking she would have seen Bill’s hands flutter about in concern. 

“He’s just gone and there’s someone out there going to hurt everyone.” Mabel’s sob was broken apart by a cough as she choked on air. 

“Mabel, Mabel, deep breaths, you’ve got to calm down.” His voice was calming, a different kind of balm that worked to calm her nerves when he wasn’t able to reach out and hold her. How Mabel wished more than anything that he could reach out and hold her. 

“Robbie’s gone, he’s gone, and everyone keeps  _ dying  _ here.” Mabel hiccuped slightly in a sob. “And I don’t understand what’s going on, who’s hurting everyone?”

She blinked through her tears to look at Bill, almost surprised by how completely  _ lost  _ he looked. His hands were held up almost in defense, extended out towards her but still closer to him. His cane was balanced across his knees, and he almost looked pained that he couldn’t get her tears to stop with words alone.

“I don’t know, Mabel, but I promise I’ll look into this, okay?” Bill almost pleaded. “Stop crying, please.”

He seemed ready to promise the world as long as she would stop crying. Mabel’s sobs faded into soft crying, until her eyes were dry and she had no more tears left. Bill’s shoulders slumped in relief, hands going to rest on his cane as Mabel continued to sniffle.

“It’s just one human, there are more in your town.” Bill tried to reassure, his mouth snapping closed when he saw the glare Mabel sent him. She took a deep breath.

“Are all humans the same?” She waited for an answer and received none. “If I died, would you even care?”

“Of course I would care, but that’s not what I’m trying to say, Mabel-”

“Oh no, we’re all the same, I’m only different because I can see you.” Mabel scoffed, wrapping her arms around her knees. She was curled up almost perfectly in a ball. “You wouldn’t care one bit about me if I wasn’t able to see you.”

Bill flinched back as though he had been struck, his face contorting in rage for only a brief moment. Mabel didn’t look up at him as he rose, walking away from the girl whose tears had started once more. She had dared to think she had nothing left to give.

* * *

“Hey, Great Uncle Ford? Can you look at something for me?” Dipper asked, hesitantly stepping into the old man’s room. Ford looked up at his nephew, squinting through his glasses. It was time he got them replaced, his eyes were almost as bad as Stanley’s.

“What’s wrong, Dipper?” Stanford spun in his chair, closing his book harsher than he meant to. The noise made Dipper flinch. “Don’t worry, come on.”

Dipper carefully walked inside, shuffling his papers almost awkwardly against his chest. He hadn’t been this nervous to show Stanford his work since he was younger and Dipper showed Ford his collection of Ghost Hunter shows. Carefully, he placed the papers on Ford’s desk, shuffling back just as quickly. 

“What’s all this?” Ford leafed through the papers, showing them the same care that Dipper had shown him. No need to be disrespectful to another's notes. 

“There’s someone in town, killing people. I don’t know if you heard, but Robbie, he was found this morning.” Dipper choked on the words, voice thick. Ford nodded, not picking up on the emotions. “Um, do you know what these mean? They look like runes to me.”

Ford’s lips drew themselves into a frown as he examined Dipper’s sketches of the marks found on the bodies. All of them were intricate, sometimes overlapping themselves. Dipper had included the photographs, which Ford looked over as carefully as he read the notes.

“These look familiar, but I’m not sure where I’ve seen them before. I’ll have to do some research and see if I can find them.” He waved a hand at the books around him. “It’s probably in one of these.”

“Mind if I help?” Dipper asked immediately. Ford arched a brow, silently asking why. “I-I want to help.”

Ford offered the seat next to him, which Dipper took gratefully. Together they pulled books off the shelves, looking through musty old pages of old tomes. The silence was comfortable.

* * *

It must have been hours before Bill returned to where he had left Mabel. She had moved, if only to lean against the rough bark of a tree, barely five feet away. Darkness had fallen over them, and nightlife was just starting to come to life in the forest.

He stood a careful distance away and draped the blanket he brought over her. Instinctively, her hands went to grasp it, tucking it tightly around her body with a light sigh. He sat down near her, close enough to hear her breathe but not close enough that she could turn and accidentally brush against him.

“I’ve been chased by trouble almost all my life.” Bill murmured to himself. The blanket fell off her shoulder, Bill used his cane to put it back in place. “And yet you’re the only thing that makes me want to get rid of that trouble.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4-5-1-20-8 13-1-11-5-19 5-24-3-21-19-5-19 6-15-18 14-15 15-14-5 16-18-1-25 25-15-21 1-18-5 14-15-20 15-14 8-9-19 12-9-19-20
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment, and to follow my [tumblr](oilux.tumblr.com) for more updates!


	14. Death is Jealous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's nineteen chapters in total, so there's only five more chapters to go! Enjoy!

For how scary Gideon was in her childhood, building a giant robot and declaring she would be his queen, Mabel was sure he was a better person. He also gave her the best hugs, which was absolutely needed at the moment. 

Besides the preacher speaking quietly in the warm air, the only sounds that could be heard was Tambry’s quiet sobbing. Mabel had never seen the young woman cry, and yet now her sobs wouldn’t stop, watching her fiance being lowered into the ground. Gideon spotted Mabel earlier in the crowd, coming to stand beside her. It wasn’t until he wrapped his arm tightly around her when the casket was being lowered, that Mabel realized how much support she needed. 

He gently shushed her as the funeral was over, still hugging her. Mabel melted into the touches, sighing softly as she struggled to get control over her tears once more. Gideon himself didn’t seem too upset about Robbie’s early departure, but he had still come, unlike her brother.

“It’s gonna be weird not seeing him around town.” Mabel almost laughed. She brushed the tears from her eyes as Gideon nodded along to what she said. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.”

Gideon took her hand, leading her away from the people so they might have a more private conversation. Mabel recognized this area as one of the few places she would sometimes see Bill hanging around, but this time he was nowhere to be seen. Together, Mabel and Gideon sat on one of the few benches, hands still linked together.

“Crazy things happenin’ in this little old town.” Gideon laughed, but it sounded forced, almost fake. “Never woulda thought this could happen here.” 

Mabel was nodding before he even finished the sentence. The presence of another was comforting, the slight warmth that radiated off Gideon’s figure was enough to put something at ease. It wasn’t Bill, but Bill couldn’t give her this kind of warmth and comfort. 

“I mean I knew about Toby and the woodpecker guy, but I wasn’t expecting Robbie.” Mabel murmured. “It’s just different, you know?”

“Mabel?” Another voice piped up behind her, one she recognized quicker than if she heard her own voice. She jumped slightly, looking over her shoulder at Bill, who seemed confused. A slight glance at Gideon from Bill told her all she needed to know. 

“What’s wrong?” Gideon asked, gently squeezing her hand. “Did you see somethin’?”

Bill’s arms were crossed against his chest, and Mabel’s tongue felt heavy in her mouth. She shook her head eventually, turning away from Bill. The last thing she needed was Gideon to think she was insane, seeing people who weren’t there.

“I thought I heard something, but nothing’s there.” Mabel shrugged. Gideon took the chance to let go of her hand, wrapping his arm around her shoulder instead. She was tense for a moment before she relaxed into the touch. 

Bill came closer, not walking away from the pair. He entered Mabel’s line of sight, but didn’t say anything to her. When she would glance at him out of the corner of her eye, his face was completely closed off, as guarded as ever.

“You seem tense.” Gideon seemed closer than before. Mabel shuffled away slightly, not completely out of his grip but also further away than before. Bill was still walking around them.

“I’m just nervous I guess. What are we gonna do? I’m scared someone else is going to be hurt.” Mabel glanced over his shoulder at Bill. Gideon made reassuring noises, but his words went in one ear and out the other.

“Mabel? Are you listenin’ to me?” Gideon didn’t even sound irritated, he sounded confused. Mabel snapped back to reality.

“Yeah, sorry, I just can’t concentrate.” Mabel rubbed her forehead, a headache coming on. “Everything’s got me feeling upside down.”

Gideon nodded, his own expression seeming just as far away as she felt. Bill huffed slightly, turning away from the pair and brows furrowed. Before Mabel blinked, Bill was sitting on the other side of her, using his cane to tap against her knee.

“Mabel, are you okay?” Bill asked, quietly as though Gideon could hear. “Is this human bothering you?”

Mabel flapped a hand in his direction, almost making it seem like she was brushing a bug away from her ear. Gideon looked at her concerned, but didn’t say anything, instead opting to pull her closer and stare at the graveyard in front of them. 

“Ya know I was wonderin’ if you wanted to go out with me sometime. Like the good old days.” Gideon quickly raised the arm that wasn’t around her shoulder. “It’s okay if you don’t!”

Bill smacked her knee with his cane, a harsh blow that made her wince. When she glanced at him, he appeared perfectly innocent, even going as far as to just look off in the opposite direction that she was sitting. Gideon placed his hand on her arm.

“I’m not sure Gideon, I think we make better friends.” She finally shrugged off his touch. He was a bit too warm for her tastes. “I don’t think we’d have a great relationship.”

Gideon smiled, if a bit sadly, nodding. He kept his hands to himself, awkwardly rubbing his hands over his knees as he rose. All of his movements were awkward now, as though he had lost a bit of confidence.

“You want me to walk you home?” Gideon asked, still trying to be a gentleman despite his hurt pride. Mabel shook her head, settling further into the park bench. Bill was still next to her, she had nothing to worry about.

“I’ll see you soon.” Gideon waved at her as he headed out, head hanging slightly. Mabel didn’t say anything to call him back.

“Who was that?” Bill’s tone was a bit snappish, causing Mabel to scoot away from him on the bench. Mabel arched a brow, almost laughing. 

“That’s Gideon, he’s a good friend of mine.” Mabel smirked slightly. “Did you see the funeral?”

“No, I hold no interests in those types of things.” Bill shrugged. His shoulders were tense, not willing to say anything more apparently.

“I’m worried.” She blurted out. “It’s normal to be worried, right?”

He looked at her, completely unamused. “You’re asking the person that humans cannot see, who can literally take life with his hands. You want to know if you should be worried?” 

She stared down at the small bit on concrete the bench rested on. It was a stupid question, she knew, but it was all she had right now. Bill audibly sighed, and she could see his hands twist in his lap. 

“Yes, you should be worried.”

Mabel nodded, taking him seriously. The times between people killing had been getting shorter and shorter, and the entire town was waiting in dread for what would come next. Who would be the next to fall? Who would next take their last breath?

“I still think you should leave town for a while. Go to your school and stay in a dormitory, leave here for a while.” Bill spoke as though he was speaking to the air, with casualness. His words didn’t have the same effect as if he was taking them seriously.

“Is there going to be a town to come back to when I return?” Mabel prompted, but Bill was silent. They were silent until the sun dipped below the horizon, and Bill offered to walk her home.

* * *

What a strange, little town. Almost overnight the whole atmosphere had changed. The reactions of humans never ceased to fascinate Bill, always the same. He had seen this pattern before, whether it be in smaller cities or in larger cities. 

First came disbelief, then then denial. Denial used to be his favorite stage, when humans were still willing to stay where they were before true panic settle in. Then came fear, and fear he could swear he tasted in the air.

Mabel Pines fear tasted different than the others. It didn’t hang in the air as thickly, it was a distressing thing that only made Bill want to settle down and reassure her it was going to be okay. He reasoned that it was because he knew her, because he knew she would go through so much in such a small town. 

He stood outside the Mystery Shack, able to hear the laughter coming from inside. It brought a small smile to his lips, even as he felt an arm drape around his shoulders. Briefly he had flashbacks to when that other human, whatever his name was, had wrapped his arm around Mabel.

“Why do you want that human so badly?” Tad’s fingers carded through the stray hairs at the nape of Bill’s neck. “She’s not important.”

“Leave her alone, she’s interesting.” Bill shrugged off Tad’s arm, stepping away. They stood a couple feet apart now, an awkward tension between them that hadn’t been there before. Such tension had never settled on their shoulders.

“She’s interesting to you. When was the last time you took a soul? When you actually did your  _ job?”  _ Tad snarled the last world like a curse. “Can you even answer that?”

“Why do you care? You take the souls before I can even get there.” Bill snapped. “Look, I’m giving you one warning Tad, and only one. I better not find out that it was you that was killing these people.”

“Oh? And what are you going to do about it? Don’t see you doing anything about it now!” Tad swung his arms around, almost spinning with the force of it.

“Don’t test me, Strange.” Bill snapped. “I’ve had enough of you playing with humans lives, of you taking them before they’re ready. I’ve had enough of you playing around like this is some game!”

“It is a game! It’s all one fantastic game, and we are the gods who get to hold the keys.” Tad screeched into the air, throwing his head back into a laugh. 

Bill stared, and he stared with a level of shock that one could not easily explain. Not too long ago, Bill would have joined him, laughing and not feeling a thing for the humans who were nothing more than pawns. Yet he had changed, and for some reason he thought Tad had changed too.

“Bill?” The voice was so soft, it almost faded into the background. It hadn’t occurred to Bill or Tad that Mabel could hear them, or that she would even come outside to check. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, shooting star.” Even Bill surprised himself with the nickname, but hey, it was on her sweater. Her cheeks were tinted a soft pink. “Go back inside. We’re just making sure everything’s safe out here.”

She hesitantly nodded, arms wrapping around herself in a way that made Bill remember just how frail and fragile she was as a human. Her soul still had his claim on it, but he still had to grab Tad’s arm to prevent Tad from chasing after her. 

“Oh, we’ve gotten to pet names, I wasn’t aware we made it to that part yet.” Tad almost sounded like a disappointed parent. Tad’s shoulders were thrown back in a way that reminded Bill of the leaders of old countries, the ones who didn’t care about anything other than their meals and where the next woman was coming from. 

“Tad.” Bill warned. “I will not have it. I won’t have it. If there is one more body, I will be coming after you. Mark my words.”

“Consider them marked.” Tad waved his hand in a flourish. “Whoever would have guessed that the mighty Bill Cipher could become so protective of such a small town.”

Tad walked into the woods with a spring in his step, whistling a tuneless song as he strolled. Bill stayed where he was, staring up at the Mystery Shack, the warm light falling on his figure. He cast no shadow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Folks, if you enjoyed this chapter, please, please leave a comment below! It really makes me want to write more, and update more, and specifically write more Mabill work! Thanks!
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	15. Death is Merciful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my favorite chapter. Thank you for all the lovely comments!

“Ah ha!” Ford slammed the book closed, the loud noise startling Dipper from his restless sleep. Dark bags circles underneath both men's eyes, leaving them with more baggage than either cared to admit to. 

“What’s up?” Dipper mumbled, leaning his head against his hand. There was a faded piece of paper in Ford’s hand, the edges of it frayed and split. The markings on the paper were unreadable as Ford waved it around, beginning to pace slightly in front of Dipper.

“I found it! These runes that are depicted on the body, I told you I had seen them somewhere else. I found it a while ago, but then I was reminded of where else I had seen them, and a pattern emerged!” Ford shoved the paper in Dipper’s face, but tore it away before Dipper could get a clear look at it. “It first made its appearance  _ here,  _ in Gravity Falls of all places, but not on bodies, on cave walls. It’s been an ancient thing that I haven’t seen in such a long time. Then it made a reappearance in…”

Dipper felt his eyes droop. Normally Dipper could listen to the ramblings of his guardian, but exhaustion ate at his bones, making his eyes fall with sleep and his head drop against his chest. Ford barely seemed to notice, continuing to ramble on as his words grew more aggressive.

“This isn’t something that’s common knowledge either, Dipper. Whatever you’re dealing with, it’s good you came to me for help. Something like this hasn’t been seen since the bubonic plague was in effect, but some people claim they’ve seen things like this. It’s never been seen in enough details.” Ford shrugged, easing his grip on the paper when he realized he was holding the delicate paper too tightly. “First things first, we need to go and see the bodies again so I can compare the marks. We could be dealing with something that’s completely supernatural, or an immortal who has yet to be caught. What do you think, Dipper?”

Dipper didn’t answer. At some point of Ford’s talking, he leaned heavily against the desk, resting his head in his arms and soft snores erupting from his lips. Ford looked down at his nephew, the excitement draining out of him and reminding him just how exhausted he was. 

“Maybe the first thing we can do is get some sleep.” Ford murmured instead. 

Searching through the many piles of items, he found a ratty, moth eaten blanket. Ford draped it over Dipper’s shoulder, hearing the soft, almost kitten-like snores. He felt too guilty at keeping Dipper awake for so long to wake him up, but he didn’t want to wake Dipper up just to have him go upstairs to sleep. 

“Sometimes, answers can wait until morning.” Ford murmured, resting next to Dipper. It wasn’t long before his own eyes started to droop, and sleep had its claws in him.

* * *

Tears prickled at her eyes as she yawned, slowly walking downstairs. Mabel didn’t want to wake up just yet, but the smell of freshly made pancakes woke her up, and she was too tempted by them to stay in bed for much longer. The scent only got better as she walked into the kitchen.

“You wake up early, Grunkle Stan?” Mabel yawned again. The sound of the stove clicking greeted her, and she laughed as Stan stumbled over his own feet to put pancakes on plates.

“You’re such a clutz, I see where I get it from.” Mabel giggled, reaching out and taking his arm. Stan grunted a little, his skin warm to her touch.

“Oh yeah, gotta get breakfast out for you kids. Ford sure as hell ain’t gonna come and make it himself.” Stan laughed, putting himself in a nearby chair. Mabel fluttered around him, turning off the stove. 

“Just sit and relax for once.” Mabel put a plate of pancakes in front of him, pressing a soft kiss against grey hair. Stan grunted at the affection, but only stared down at his food, not eating it yet.

Mabel turned back to the rest of the pancakes, placing them on plates. Stan had made a ridiculous amount, but he was used to feeding a whole family, and whoever happened to stop by, normally Soos and Melody.

“Did you sleep well?” Mabel asked, pulling out bottles of syrup. She had a flash of memory of breakfast mornings where Dipper would engage her in syrup races after their parents died, to cheer her up.

Stan didn’t reply, but Mabel didn’t glance at him. Her thoughts were filled with memories of death, of meeting Bill. Bill. She hadn’t seen him in a couple days, and it felt like eternity in her mind. She hadn’t seen him since he stood outside her home with Tad. 

“Stan? Are you listening to me?” Mabel turned, but Stan was still staring blankly at the pancakes before him. His gaze was blank, eyes staring wide at the syrup slowly dripping off the plate. Mabel carefully put the plates aside, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He crumpled underneath her touch, as though she was a thousand pounds of force he couldn’t fight against. Stan fell to the ground, with Mabel standing over him, her hand pressed against her mouth in shock. 

“Grunkle Stan?” Mabel whispered. Was he breathing? She couldn’t see his chest moving, but Bill wasn’t here, and he must still be alive.

“Grunkle Stan?” Her voice cracked. Where were Dipper and Ford? Shakily, her hands reached for the ancient home phone Stan insisted on keeping no matter how much Dipper tried to get him a cell phone.

“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?” The voice came clear through the phone. Mabel swallowed, her throat dry and protesting the movement.

“I need an ambulance at the Mystery Shack, my great uncle collapsed.” Mabel didn’t realize she was crying until she couldn’t see clearly through her tears. “Please hurry.”

* * *

She hated the sound of sirens. Mabel felt more familiar with those sounds than anything else in her life, more than her brother’s voice, more than the smell of rain in the morning. It settled in her bones as Ford drove frantically after the ambulance, showing that driving skills might just run in the Pines family.

“What happened, Mabel?” Dipper asked over and over again, but Mabel could hardly think past the blaring sound. So much death, there was so much of it and she couldn’t deal with another one. 

“Mabel.” Dipper forced her to look at him. “What. Happened.”

The car came to a halt, slamming Dipper and Mabel against the front seats of the car. They rushed from the vehicle, chasing after the paramedics who rushed Stan into the hospital. Mabel held back her sobs, nursing coming to put them in the waiting room.

She wasn’t the only one in tears, other people waited for either bad news or good news, and Mabel hated being in limbo, waiting for news she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear. Mabel wrung her hands together, glancing at Ford and Dipper, who were whispering amongst themselves.

“He was making breakfast, and he was burning up. I made him sit, and the next thing I know, he’s on the ground. I don’t know what happened.” Mabel whispered. The two men fell silent as they stared at Mabel. “Is he going to be okay?”

Dipper pulled her into a hug, and Mabel wanted to sob but she had no tears left. His silence was enough of an answer, they simply didn’t know. Mabel leaned her head against his chest, hearing the beat of his heart, and wishing that it was Stan she was leaning against. 

They waited for hours, as other families got their news and left either in tears or with happy smiles on their faces. Mabel felt envy spike in her heart each time that they left, while she was stuck waiting for news.

“Pines?”

The family had never sprung to their feet so quickly. The nurse’s eyes widened in fear as they rushed towards her, nearly tackling her. Mabel didn’t want to hear what she had to say, but she needed to hear it.

“We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him, but it doesn’t look good.” Her face was soft, too used to having to deliver bad news. “At this point, we’re just making him comfortable. It doesn’t look as though he’ll make it through the night.”

“Can we see him?” Ford gasped out. He was worn down, more than Mabel had ever seen him before. 

The nurse nodded, the Pines on her heels as she led them through halls to the rooms. The walls were pristine, white, and it smelled like medicine. Mabel was first in the room, taking in the sight of her uncle, pale as death on the hospital bed, the machine keeping track of his heart rate beside him.

She could barely think of anything to say. Her throat closed at the sight of him there, and Mabel slowly walked forward to sit by his side, taking on hand in her own. Unlike just a few short hours before, his skin was no longer hot to the touch, it was cold, like he was already gone.

Ford was speaking in hushed whispers to the nurse, but Mabel couldn’t make out anything but sporadic words, lost in the haze of thumping hearts and nurse calls over the intercoms. Dipper took his place by her side, face just as blank as when Stanley had stared down at his pancakes. 

“Why does everyone we know die?” Mabel whispered quietly. “It’s not fair.”

Dipper didn’t say anything, but he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. More tears fell down her face as Mabel fought back sobs. She thought that she had no more tears to shed, but it seemed she was wrong.

Time went by slowly, and for that, Mabel was grateful. She was grateful for every moment where she could watch Stan’s chest rise and fall with breath, and hear the machine beeping in time with his heart. They stayed there in silence, no one willing to speak and break the almost unbreakable silence before them. 

It was late when something did break the silence, something other than nurses and murmured words of comfort. It was the tapping of shoes against the ground, the same sound that made Mabel’s gaze snap to the door. Fresh tears sprung to her eyes as she looked at Bill, who was refusing to meet her gaze.

“You can’t.” Mabel murmured. Bill’s eyes flickered over to her, before returning to Stanley. “Bill,  _ please.” _

“It’s his time, Shooting Star.” Bill’s voice was so soft. “I can’t do anything.”

Dipper was staring at her, in shock and concern. It must seem like she was talking to open air, but Mabel couldn’t bring herself to care what he thought. Let him think whatever he wanted, Mabel was the only one who could talk to Bill.

“You can, you did it before!” Mabel wasn’t loud, not loud enough to bring about the nurses. Shaking off her brother, she stood in front of her great uncles bed. Bill walked forward, stopping right in front of her.

“Mabel-”

“No, no, please, I’ll do anything you want, just don’t do this.” Mabel hung her head. Ford and Dipper stared at her, not speaking.

“I need you to move.” He was quiet, his voice barely a whisper. Mabel shook her head slightly, and Bill sighed.

She flinched slightly when she felt his cane brush against her chin. Mabel hadn’t realized she wasn’t staring at him until he urged her to look at his face, though she was barely able to see through her tears.

“Anything, Bill, just don’t take him.” Mabel pleaded. “Please.”

He stared at her, staring into her soul as though he was God evaluating her for judgement on whether or not she could get into heaven. Yet after a moment he sighed, pulling back, shoes clicking as he stepped back.

“You owe me, Star.” 

Mabel wrapped her arms around herself to make up for the fact she couldn’t wrap her arms around Bill, the tears still falling. Dipper eventually came forward, tugging her to sit in the chair once more, and the silence came back. It wasn’t as daunting as it was before.

Stanley Pines did not die that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this chapter, please, please leave a comment below! Especially if you want to see more Mabill works.
> 
> Don't forget to follow my [tumblr](oilux.tumblr.com) for more updates and works!


	16. Death is Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

It took almost two weeks before Stanley was able to come back home. Mabel didn’t like the hospital, she realized that on the first night when they could hardly sleep through the random sounds she heard, but it was worth it so Stanley could come home.

He came home in a wheelchair, complaining the whole time about how he could walk perfectly time, while Ford pushed him forward easily. Despite the complaining, Stan had a large grin on his face as they left the hospital and entered the beat down car he refused to get rid of.

“A whole week? Are you sure?” Stanley had been asleep for almost three of those days, Mabel laughed when she heard him say that.

“A whole week. The sooner we get home, the sooner I can make you some chocolate chip pancakes?” Mabel poked his nose, watching the old man’s face crinkle at the touch. “The Shack’s just not the same without you.”

Stanley grinned, and they all piled into the car. A bit of nervousness pinched at Mabel’s gut as the car shifted out of park and into drive towards home. She hadn’t seen Bill since that fateful night, not when he had tried to take Stanley’s soul. He was probably busy with work, with other things that were more important that coming to visit her, but it still made her stomach twist with nerves.

“Mabel?” Dipper’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t realized they were already home. “You okay?”

The topic had been avoided, with just about as much caution as they could manage. Ford and Dipper hadn’t wanted to bring it up while Stanley was in the hospital, and Mabel hadn’t brought it up herself. It was so awkward, she hadn’t wanted to look at them and try to explain she was seeing things. They wouldn’t think she was stable.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks, Dipper.” Mabel reached out and took his hand, a small smile straining on her lips. “Want some pancakes?”

“Anything besides that gruel they called food.” Dipper joked, his smile almost as strained as hers was. As much as it was a relief to have their uncle home, it was stressful bringing someone home from the hospital.

“Kids! I’m waiting on some pancakes here!” Stanley shouted from inside. “Trying to have me waste away to nothing over here!”

“Stanley you can wait five minutes-”

“No I can’t, I need some pancakes!” Stanley shouted, laughing at his twins upset frown. Mabel led her brother to the Shack, only dropping his hand when they were inside the kitchen.

“Chocolate chip pancakes, your favorite Grunkle Stan!” Mabel shouted. “Just take a seat and relax!”

The older man made a grunt of a noise, before he finally went and sat down on his favorite old chair. It creaked underneath his weight, but the old man just sighed and leaned back, propping his feet up. Mabel smiled at him, going to start making pancakes. Her brother and great uncle Stanford went to go and sit with Stanley, leaving her alone in the kitchen.

“He seems healthier than before.” Bill spoke behind her, laughing when she jumped. He was sitting on the kitchen table, cane balanced on his knees as he spoke to her. Mabel glared, grabbing a spoon and whacking his arm with it. “What in the world was that for?”

“For scaring me!” Mabel hissed. “And keep it down, I don’t need them thinking I’m more insane than I already am.”

“They can’t hear _me.”_ Bill rolled his eyes. “It is not my fault you wanted to speak to me so badly that you forgot they were there.”

“I was asking you not to take Grunkle Stan’s life, was there a better time for me to do that? Do you take appointments now?” Mabel snorted at her own joke, pulling things out of cupboards to make pancakes. “Can you eat food by the way?”

“No, I can not, and I’m a bit disgusted seeing some of the food you humans make.” Bill hopped off the table, his shoes clicking on the laminate floor. “Why?”

“Just wondering if you wanted some pancakes.” Mabel turned back to her work. “Don’t get on my case about it, gosh.”

“Well, someone’s defensive.” Bill crossed his arms, but a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

“Quit pouting. Now, prepared to be amazed as I add make my famous Mabel chocolate chip pancakes!” Mabel beamed as she did what she did best, adding glitter to the concoction in the bowl. The face Bill made was priceless.

Out in the living room, hushed whispers were barely heard over the static of the television. Ford and Dipper sat close together, heads pressed close together to block out anything but the conversation they were having. Stanley reclined back in his chair, eyes shut.

“Do you think she needs to see someone?”

“No, I think it’s just the stress of the murders and everything else.” Dipper glanced at Stanley. “You saw her, she could barely speak.”

“What else does she have to be stressed about? She has you and me, and all she does is make sweaters and draw all day.” Ford mumbled. Dipper frowned, crossing his arms.

“She was helping me out with the murders before you were, Great Uncle Ford, and she always helps with the mysteries when I ask her. Mabel does a lot around here.” Dipper defended. “I think it was just stress.”

“I think we should have her talk-”

“Will you two shut it?” Stanley barked. “You’re interrupting my show. I don’t want to hear anything else about this.”

“Stanley,” Ford sighed, rubbing the creases on his forehead, “you have no idea what you’re even talking about right now.”

“Oh yeah? You leave her alone. You think you two idiots would have made it as long as ya have without her? You  leave her alone, girl’s been under a lot of stress and she don’t need you two breathing down her throat. She’s the only one who makes sure you two remember to _eat_ as it is. God knows I ain’t gonna be doing that.” Stanley muttered. “Quit talking already, I went a week without my show and gotta make up for it.”

“Grunkle Stan-”

“I don’t want to hear a lick more about it. Leave Mabel alone.” Stanley glanced back at the kitchen. “For all you two nerds know about paranormal stuff, you guys are idiots.”

Dipper and Stanford fell silently, and Mabel’s laughter drifted from the kitchen. After a couple minutes, Mabel came from the kitchen, giving Stan a plate of food with a kiss against his head.

“Who you talking to, honey?” Stanley asked when she turned back to the kitchen. Mabel smiled and gestured to her ears, which were covered by her hair.

“Candy.” She mouthed. The men all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking she was on the phone with someone.

“Mabel, I think you forgot our pancakes.” Dipper said awkwardly, staring at his sister as she left. Mabel laughed, making more pancakes even as she turned her back on her brother.

“People who haven’t been in the hospital for a week can come into the kitchen and eat at the table.” Mabel sang, throwing her hair over her shoulder. Dipper’s eyes narrowed when he saw no headphones in her ears, but he said nothing.

* * *

“Tad, are you done?”

The body was long since dead, the soul attached to Tad’s fingers in the blue fire which felt like nothing. There was no more warmth lingering in it, Tad must have spent too much time cutting into flesh.

“Our job is never done. You don’t sound like you’re having fun.” Tad pulled back, licking his lips. There was just the barest hint of iron there.

“I’m not.”

Tad rolled his eyes at Bill’s unamused voice. It wasn’t a long time ago, barely a century ago, that Bill had fun with this. The more Tad thought, the more he realized Bill had really stopped enjoying this when he met that human.

“You really can’t stop thinking about her, can you? She’s human, she’s going to die and you’re going to have to reap her soul. I’m not taking that job for you.” Tad wiped his blade against the grass to clean it, sending the soul off with a flick of his wrist. He had no desire to hang on to it for much longer.

“Tad, this has got to stop. We’ve been around for so long, and we’ve watched these humans start from nothing, look at what they’ve accomplished.” He gestured at the woods around them. “They’ve built cities and survived, they’ve gone through plagues and murderers, and they’ve touched the moon. Are we really so much better than them?”

“Yes! Yes, we are! We are not nearly as weak as they are, we don’t fall to disease, and we live through it all. We are so much better than them.” Tad laughed, but it was hollow, fake. “We don’t care about them, we never have. You develope one soft spot for one human and suddenly the whole species is worth saving?”

“They’ve always been worth saving. They’re fun! Just because you’re not willing to see what they’re all about, doesn’t mean that they’re not great.” Bill ran a hand through his hair. “Tad, I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to do my job and that’s it.”

“No, you want to get close to that little human who’s taken up all your time.” Tad spat the words, but then leaned back. “You know, it really is a miracle she’s managed to live as long as she has. The human’s accident prone. It would be terrible if something happened.”

“Tad-”

“What? I’m just making an observation.”

Bill’s cane slammed against the ground almost as quickly as he pounced, sending them both tumbling to the dirt. Stray rocks and leaves bit at them, but Bill’s hands were wrapped around Tad’s throat.

They couldn’t die, but Bill wished that they could.

“Pathetic.” Tad wheezed between breaths, face not even turning pink at the force of Bill’s hands. “You’re pathetic.”

Bill punched Tad hard, the cut across his cheek healing almost instantly. There was never any lasting damage to them at all. Together, they grappled for a moment, until Tad finally bucked up and Bill was knocked to the side.

“How about a deal? Remember those? We used to have so much fun together.” Tad sighed, reminiscing his memories. “We leave, and I’ll leave this town and all the dumb humans who live in it, alone.”

Bill reached for his cane, smacking it against Tad’s head with a sickening _thwap!_ before he got up. He could just end Tad, finally be done with an old friend who refused to let go of old ways. Bill didn’t want to though. Not after everything they went through.

“Fine. We’ll leave soon.” Bill snapped. Fury still made his fingers twitch with anger, but he did nothing about it. He turned back towards Tad, but the reaper was gone. And Bill Cipher was alone once more, just as he had been through most of history.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment!


	17. Death is Bloody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

“I'll be going away for a little while.” Bill said, twirling his cane around his fingers. It was dangerously close to smacking Mabel on the arm, but she didn't even flinch. She did flinch at his words, looking at him with wide hazel eyes.

“Okay, it’s really gonna be strange here without you, that’s for sure.” Mabel snorted, going back to her knitting. She was working on another sweater, creating an ocean scene with little fish going across the bottom. 

“Shooting Star,” Bill’s nickname for her rolled off his tongue, “try not to get into too much trouble while I’m gone.”

Her cheeks flushed at the nickname, pausing her knitting. The way he said it, it it made her want to laugh, like he wouldn’t ever be back. 

“Sure, it’s not like you’re gonna be gone forever.” Mabel snorted, reaching out and batting his cane so he would stop twirling it. Bill shot her an unamused look, instead opting to poke her with the cane instead of twirling it again.

“Course not, just don’t want you to get into too much trouble while I’m gone. Won’t be around to save you this time.” Bill joked, but he it was heavy, his smile dying off his lips as soon as it arrived. 

Mabel reached out, taking his cane and gently poking him in the side with it. Bill stared at her, unamused, and Mabel gave him a small smile. After a moment, Bill returned it, taking his cane from her.

“Don’t be so depressed. You’ll come back soon and it’ll be like you never left.” Mabel went back to knitting, her fingers going through the motions with practiced ease. 

“Just like I never left.” Bill echoed next to her.

Something in his voice made Mabel glance over at him, concern making her brows furrow. She didn’t say anything though, going back to her knitting as he twirled his cane. Before them , a nightingale landed on the railing of the porch, sang a little tune, and flew off.

* * *

That night, Bill Cipher stayed with Mabel Pines until she fell asleep, though she wasn’t aware that he was so close. Truly, he didn’t trust her to stay out of trouble while he wasn’t nearby. It wasn’t anything against her, she was just a magnet for trouble that Bill didn’t want another reaper to take advantage of. 

She fell asleep with ease, even as he put his mark above her window. It was carved into the wood in thin lines, not only a reminder to other reapers, but a reminder to himself. Bill had many memories of time with her, he didn’t want to forget them.

Though he doubted that she would remember him.

“Sweet dreams, my shooting star. It’s for the best. I should have never stayed around here this long.” Bill murmured. She rolled over in her sleep, mumbling something about kittens and rainbows, before she fell back to sleep.

Bill left her that night with the mark above her window, and nothing else.

* * *

It was strange to not have Bill around, to not hear his strange, sarcastic remarks when he thought she wasn’t listening. It was strange just to not have him near her, telling stories about random things he had seen back when civilizations were just forming. Mabel quickly found that the day was quite dull without Bill by her side.

“Strange, not having him around, isn’t it?” A voice near her asked, a bit quiet in volume but nasally. It made her cringe, but she slowly turned to look at the source of it. Tad Strange was too busy laughing at his own joke to notice her discomfort around him.

“What are you doing here?” Mabel asked softly. Her body was tense, she had a huge urge to walk away, but she didn’t want to give chase.

“Just coming to see what’s got Billy so obsessed with this town.” Tad laughed again like he had heard the best joke. “I think I’m finally getting what he means.” 

“You are?” Mabel put her knitting to the side, giving Tad all of her attention. He seemed to preen under it, thriving under her attention.

“Yup.” He said the ‘p’ with a pop. “Not the town, actually, but someone in it. He’s such a predictable little reaper.”

“What are you talking about?” Mabel wanted to snap, but the longer he talked, the more unrest settled in her chest. She rose, but didn’t walk away.

“Isn’t it obvious? I think it’s as clear as crystal. Even if I get him away from this town, he’d come right back, in search of a little shooting star he thinks is so important.” Tad scoffed. “So the answer is clear, I can’t get Bill away from this town while his little shooting star is still here.”

“Tad.” Mabel started, taking a long step back. He rose like a snake, his form writhing and twisting to face her. Fear made Mabel’s hands shake as she held them in front of her, trying to stop him from getting closer. 

“Oh, and you know what happens to little shooting stars when they run their course? They fall, they burn out and waste away to nothing.” Tad laughed again, the harsh bark of noise making her flinch. 

Mabel took another step back, stumbling as she tripped over an old art project. Tad’s grinned, a wide smile that stretched from one ear to the other, showing off white, sharp teeth. They reminded her of lightning bolts, coming out of red hills for death.

“We are going to have so much fun together, you and I.”

* * *

Bill tapped his hands on his knees, barely able to keep himself calm. This wasn’t fair. Tad, was meant to be there almost an hour ago, and he still wasn’t there. It was so boring, waiting for Tad to appear so they could go and...do what they always did.

What had he even done before Mabel had shown up? The days seemed like a blur, his whole past a mystery until the moment he talked to her and everything was light again. It was a boring blur that made him look forward to the future. A future with her in it.

She was a human, she wouldn’t be around for long though. Bill sighed as he thought about it. She was human who wouldn’t be around for much longer. She wouldn’t be around for a while, and here he was walking away.

She should have a normal life, shouldn’t she? A normal human life where she grew to an old age and had a family, without death hanging over her shoulder, a being who couldn’t be with her, who couldn’t hold her and kiss her-

Bill shook those thoughts from his head. He didn’t need to do any of that. All he had to do was wait, wait until she passed on her own, and her life was just his, the same way every other soul was his. Never had the idea of a century seemed like such an eternity to him.

He swung his cane out, slamming it hard against a large pine tree. His movement left a large gash in the bark, but nothing else, not even a sound. The gash was a mark on the tree that no one would ever care about, or ever see it. 

Bill could go back and see her. There was no reason to be afraid of Tad, Bill could take care of him easily, he would make sure that no one would hurt Mabel, not until her time had come and her soul was ready to be plucked from its prison.

Even though her soul had been ready to be plucked from the moment her first breath was taken.

A tingle went down his spine, his muscles quivering as he glanced around. Some souls, when their time had come, would go quietly, a whisper that Bill could hardly hear. Some souls would cry in outrage as the moved from their host to another. Some souls, they would  _ scream.  _

Bill hated the screams. 

This scream, this he knew. It crashed over him like a wave, dulling his senses in a rush as he barely drew in breath. It chilled him to the bone, as he frantically glanced around to see the soul screaming out. 

He dropped his cane, breaking out into a run. He could only hope he got there quickly enough.

* * *

“Please, stop it!” Mabel sobbed, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes and leaving streaks down her temples. 

She had stopped struggling, a lesson that was easy to teach. He drove the knives further into the flesh of her palms, ignoring her soft pleas to stop what he was doing. Tad wanted to make sure that she had no wiggle room to try to escape.

“Tad, please, it hurts.” Mabel whimpered. Her sweater, the pink thing that had once held the same image that Bill called her by, was torn to shreds around her, the white tank top underneath stained scarlet with blood. He hushed her, like a man hushing their lover when they were too overwhelmed with emotions.

“But you’re doing so well, I’ve never had a human last so long.” He brushed the bloody knife across her cheek. She whimpered but didn’t try to pull away from him. Another good reaction, one he made a soft cooing noise at her for.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Mabel’s body shook slightly, her breathing shallow and quick. Her fingertips shook ever so slightly, almost vibrating as Tad made a final couple slashes against her skin. At this point, her eyes were unfocused, Tad guessed she had no idea what was going on.

“I bet your soul will taste lovely, sweetened just perfectly. You know Bill used to do this with me so often. He’ll be so upset that I got to you before him.” Tad laughed, still not touching her skin yet. Her blood decorated the ground, soaking into the dirt. It would be a long time before anything natural grew there.

“Don’t worry, Bill’s going to hear all about this.” 

Bill’s bare hands wrapped themselves around Tad’s throat, tearing the reaper away from Mabel. She groaned, eyes fluttering shut as Bill and Tad rolled away from her. The ended up with Tad lying flat on his back, Bill’s hands still locked around his throat. Tad would have laughed if his breathing wasn’t cut off. 

“You bastard, I told you to stay away from her!” Bill snarled. Tad’s laughter grew louder with every breath that Bill let him draw, until Tad’s laughter was the only sound besides Mabel’s breathing.

“I knew you’d never let her go.” Tad finally stopped laughing, reaching up and taking Bill’s hands with his own. “You don’t have to, she’s gone. It can be just us again.”

“I hate you. I  _ told  _ you not to touch her. I  _ told  _ you that I would take care of this.” Bill ripped his hands away from Tad, reaching over for the bloody knife. It had landed near them when they rolled. The blood was sticky against Bill’s fingers.

“Bill,” Tad started in a warning, but he made no move to get away from Bill, “you really want to give up everything we’ve had for a human?”

“Yes.” Bill said without hesitation, twirling the knife in his fingers. “It’s time you learned how a reaper dies.”

The knife came down again and again, with blood and muscle and tissue that reapers had no right to have, while Tad screamed and cried and reminded Bill of all the good times they had. Tad learned that maybe humans were something worth keeping around, if it meant saving his own skin. He also learned that there were much worse ways to die than blood and knives. There were teeth.

* * *

Her vision was almost black as pain radiated from her palms. She whimpered, her gaze focusing to see the blades being taken out of her palms. She didn’t move, too weak as a cell phone was pressed into her hand. Her fingers twitched, but hardly moved.

“Star….you’re okay….” 

Someone was speaking, but she couldn’t hear them. Bill’s concerned face made her frown, but all she could do was press her bloody fingers against the screen. 

“Outside….your house….you’re gonna be okay.” 

Mabel looked at him, truly looked at him, with her vision swimming in and out as her phone buzzed in her hand. It was cold, even though it was a warm summer day and when she had been with Tad at first she had been sweating.

“Nine one one what is your emergency?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Folks, I have some important information to tell you. First, I am ridiculously proud of this chapter. I had the idea for this chapter before I wrote anything else, it's my personal favorite.
> 
> Lastly, don't forget to leave a comment below!


	18. Death is Comforting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all got one more chapter left after this one, enjoy it.

When she first woke up at the hospital, no one would tell her what happened. The doctors fluttered around her with concern, placing IV’s in her arms and telling her she was going to be okay, but no one told her what happened to her. She fell back asleep. 

The second time she woke up, she was alone. She took in the plain hospital room, the lone table filled with gifts and flowers for her. The steady beeping of the heart monitor was too loud, and the white walls made her eyes ache and close once more. She fell back asleep. 

The third time she woke up, she wasn't alone. Mabel huffed out a sigh, trying to sit up in the uncomfortable hospital bed. Something hard pressed against her shoulder, urging her to lie back down. Mabel followed the handle of the black cane to the person holding it. Bill’s face was hard, no emotions decorating his features. Mabel opened her mouth, but all that came out was a small croak. 

“Go back to sleep, you lost too much blood.” Bill’s voice came out warped to her ears. “Tad’s gone.”

The words didn't settle into her mind the way she wished them to, but scattered all about as she tried to string them together. Her eyes closed as she swallowed, her dry throat audibly clicking. 

“Sleep.”

Mabel slept. 

The fourth and final time she woke from her slumber, Dipper was at her side, head asleep on her bed and clutching her hand. Mabel shifted, rising further on the bed and untangling her hand from her twins. She didn't feel completely like herself, but she felt better than the last couple times she woke up. 

She was covered in bandages from head to toe. The worst were her hands, wrapped so thickly in gauze that she couldn't bend her fingers. When she moved, her hospital gown pulled and tugged at her bandages, making her wince in pain. 

“Mabel?” A gruff voice said from the doorway. Her eyes flickered over to Stanley, who stood there in awed shock. He had been carrying food, but he had dropped it when he saw her away. The sandwiches showed the messy insides of what seemed to be egg salad. 

“Grunkle Stan?” Mabel felt like she was a little kid again, when her parents had died and Stan had stayed up with her on late nights to make sure she wouldn't get nightmares. Tears welled up in her eyes, her arms opening for a hug. Stan was there in a moment, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. 

“You're okay, pumpkin, you're safe now.” Stan mumbled. “God, they didn't think you'd make it.”

Stan held her delicately, carefully avoiding every place where her bandages were the thickest. Mabel rested her head on his shoulder, barely holding back her tears. 

When they pulled back, Stan shook Dipper awake, who struggled to come to reality through layers of grogginess. His hands fumbled to hold on to Mabel, settling for holding her wrist when he couldn't hold her hand anymore. 

“I'm gonna get Ford and tell the doc you're awake.” Stan mumbled, pulling back. He was reluctant, obviously, only finally pulling back when he had to. Mabel turned to her twin, her fingers reaching out and grasping at him as best she could with her wrapped fingers.

“Mabel, what happened? Who did this to you?” Dipper asked almost as soon as Stan was gone. Mabel shook her head, her tongue sitting heavy in her mouth. “Ford and I, we know about the symbols. It’s something ancient...powerful. How did you live?”

Mabel’s eyes focused on the other side of the room, her own screams ringing in her ears. Tad had told her what the carvings meant while he pressed the knife further into her skin. Mabel wished she could forget that part.

“Mabel?” Dipper asked softly, squeezing her wrist. She turned her gaze to him. “How in the world did you do it?”

Her gaze returned to where she had been staring, where Bill stood in the corner of the room. His shoulders seemed heavier, staring at her silently as she laid her head back down. Bill made no gestures for her to be silent, only staring at her with blue eyes. 

“I know someone more powerful, I guess.”

Bill smirked.

* * *

The scars on her skin were luckily in places that could easily be covered by clothing. Mabel spent three days in the hospital, bandages changed when they got too bloody and helped whenever she needed it. Dipper, Stan, and Ford had hardly left her side when she was there. She insisted they went home every night to get actual rest. It gave her time alone, even if the doctors said it was the worst thing she could have.

They gave her sleeping aides on the first night, afraid she would be woken up by nightmares. Mabel didn’t have to say anything to the police, her body told the story for her. Even with the help of the sleeping aids, she still woke several times during the night, glancing around quickly for the source of her pain. 

Tad was never there, but Bill was. He sat in the chair her brother like to occupy, silently watching her. It would have been creepy if he hadn’t saved her, but it brought her comfort when she would look around frantically, only to see Bill sitting there in a silent comfort.

When she woke up screaming though, that was the worst. In the mornings her throat would be raw from begging,  _ pleading,  _ for it all to stop, for the pain to stop. The nurses did not hesitate to put something in her IV to get her to sleep.

“Why do you think he had to torture me for so long?” Mabel whispered one night, heart racing from another nightmare. Her voice was thick with unshed tears, barely making their way from her throat. 

Bill used his cane to nudge her on the bed. She didn’t move at first, but eventually turned to face him. Mabel brushed away the tears forming in her eyes, looking at Bill. He crossed his arms, not saying anything for a moment.

“Tad and I, we used to do that sort of thing all the time. The longer you stay alive past your time, the sweeter it is. Souls have a taste about them, and by taking the time to drain you of your blood and carve into your flesh, it makes you taste sweeter.” Bill explained. “I haven’t done something like that in centuries.”

Mabel put her hand over her side, where the most painful wounds rested. The mark said end, according to Tad, it was one of the last marks that Tad had carved into her skin. Bill followed her gaze, eyes softening when he saw where her hand rested.

“Scars fade over time, shooting star.” Bill said softly. Mabel scoffed, the doctors had told her that some of them would need surgery to completely repair. “Get some more sleep.”

Mabel rolled over, making sure to face Bill, so he would be the last one she saw before she fell asleep.

* * *

She came home, still wrapped in gauze and almost too sore to walk. Dipper helped her every step of the way, but they made it no further than the couch inside before Mabel insisted on taking a break and laid down. It was softer than the hospital bed, and Mabel let out a sigh of relief at the feeling.

“Do you know who attacked you?” Dipper asked, not for the first time. Mabel huffed a sigh, turning on the television. Stan made plenty of comments about the show she chose, but didn’t ask her to change it.

“Dipper, I don’t want to talk about it.” Mabel found her favorite episode of Ducktective was on, and let out a small cheer.

“How am I supposed to help you if don’t tell me who hurt you?” Dipper groaned, flopping down next to her. He was careful not to touch her though. “Mabel, we need to catch this guy.”

“Don’t bother.” Mabel muttered. Her hands flared with pain as she balled them into fists “I took care of it already.” 

Dipper looked at her, and Mabel met his gaze evenly. She dared him to say anything, to ask who had hurt her once more. Dipper opened his mouth, but Ford came from the other room, placing a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. The twins glanced up at their uncle, and he stared down evenly at them.

“Dipper, there are some mysteries, as much as it hurts to think, that we will never know.” He flicked the bill of Dipper’s blue ballcap. “Come and help me make dinner.”

Dipper stared at his twin for a moment longer, but then rose, going to the kitchen. Stan came and sat down next to Mabel, already commenting that he knew who exactly had committed the murder. 

“Grunkle Stan, we’ve seen this episode a million times. We all know the maid did it.”

“...I’ll bet you ten bucks it was the butler.”

“You’re so on.”

* * *

“Mabel, that’s so not fair!”

Mabel laughed, throwing her head back, the wind whipping through her hair. Dipper laughed lightly as well, fingers tightening on the steering wheel. It was one of the few times that she felt free, sun on her skin and the fresh air purifying her lungs.

She still saw Bill, but not as frequently. After the incident with Tad, he had become sparse, having to take on more responsibilities. According to him, new reapers were born, not created, and there was no telling when a new one would show up. He and Tad had been the oldest.

“I’m going to go off to college. Get out of this town.” Mabel had told him, when she was finally allowed to take the gauze off and leave her scarred skin bare. 

“That’s nice.” Bill said. He stared at her, truly stared at her. “Maybe you’ll meet someone.”

Mabel giggled, a soft blush covering her cheeks. It wasn’t a thought that occurred to her, but it was something that could happen. Her life had spent too much time on the back burner, waiting for it to happen. Mabel was ready to finally start her life.

“I guess.”

It had been one of the last times they had a real conversation. It had bothered Mabel to no end, but what could she do? Bill had always been like the tide, coming and going as he pleased. What could she do but wait for him to come back? 

Something Tad said settled in her gut, festering there like a disease. Tad had said Bill would tire of her eventually, and at the time she hadn’t believed him. Yet as months passed, Mabel realized that he was right.

Dipper leaned over and changed the station from her pop station, complaining about the racket. Mabel laughed, barely able to keep the bubbling laughter from leaving her lips. She had a college acceptance letter under her belt, and her whole future out in front of her, and t he car with a drunk driver at the wheel crashed into them at fifty five miles per hour. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to get so many upset comments about the cliffhanger and I have zero regrets.
> 
>  
> 
> Lastly, don't forget to leave a comment below!


	19. Death is Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The finale. Thank you all for going on this journey with me.

Tad Strange was dead, and Bill finally felt he understood why humans went through grief. He understood why they mourned the loss of each other. Other reapers had been killed, by Bill himself, but none that were as close to him as Tad had been. 

When they had first formed, from the stars and earth and something inevitably  _ human,  _ they only had each other to rely on. Things had been different then, there had been less loneliness, there had been more confusion. They didn't understand why people died when they were touched, and why they only had each other. Bill watched humans with envy, watching the same souls reincarnate over and over again, each one thinking they were just as unique as the last. 

Time blended together. No day was more important than the one they had just lived. It was endless, watching cities being destroyed and monuments built to false idols. His memories melded together until he was mixing up eras and couldn't take one more minute. 

Tad had been there though. Bill remembered the old Tad fondly, the man who smiled and laughed and hated his job with a passion. At some point, that laughter had died, and so did Tad’s hate for the job. Bill missed his friend. 

But still, whatever souls they took, or didn't take, the sun would still set, and rise again in the morning. It whispered sweet nothings of a new day, a better one than the day before it. Bill has learned early on in his life not to trust such honeyed words. 

Tad and Bill were inseparable for centuries. During some point of it, Bill couldn't remember when exactly it started up or when it ended, they had been something akin to lovers. The two were not exempt from one of the worst diseases that plagued mortals, loneliness. It settled as an ache, deep in the bones, refusing to leave. Bill found solace in Tad. 

Except for that one day, when he finally didn't.  

It was unbearably hot, sweat beading on skin until it rolled in fat drops down the contours of faces. Bill walked along the cobbled road in the small town, kicking a small stone in his path. It went clinking down the road, before settling down at the feet of a woman. She was selling her wares on the outer edge of the market, trying to entice customers who were leaving into buying a parting gift. 

She looked down at the stone as it rolled against her shoe, moving her gaze to see where it had come from. Her gaze landed on Bill and  _ stuck,  _ staring at him for only a second before she smiled. 

Bill swore the world stopped. 

He hovered around her stand all day, examining things but making no move to buy them. Her eyes followed him, icy blue and cold enough to freeze him in their depths. It wasn't until the sun was setting and she was packing up that she finally spoke to him. 

“Are you going to buy something or just look?”

It was said with irritation, but it was said to  _ him.  _ It wasn't Tad joking, she wasn't talking to someone hiding behind him. She was talking to him. 

He doled out a gold coin and paid for a small trinket. Words were stuck in his throat, he couldn't force them out no matter how hard he tried, and moved on. She clutched the gold for all she was worth, beaming at the money she acquired. 

Bill lost the small trinket the next day. He couldn't remember what he had bought, as the memory had faded and become fuzzy over the years as memories do. She was a funny girl, and he remembered her bright laugh and cold eyes instead of her name. 

Her soul radiated age and warmth, a subtle sweetness that Bill hungered for. It took a couple murmured words from Tad, wondering how her soul would taste, that made him move into action. Her screams had been ecstasy, rolling over him one by one as he slowly ripped her soul from her body. It had been sweeter than imaginable, when her body finally stopped struggling and she was dead and in his grasp. 

He regretted it as soon as her body started to cool. 

She would have died one day, lived a life that didn't have him in it, and would have only remembered him as the man who paid for trinkets in gold coins. He didn't want that. Bill wanted more. 

He hadn't taken any more humans that way. Tad taught new reapers what he called ‘the art’ of tearing souls from bodies. It wasn't the same for Bill. All the screams sounded the same, and humans were so bountiful, ending one life hardly made a difference. Besides, they did things. Humans created great things, they traveled to the moon and solved so many mysteries. They were fascinating, in their own way. 

Tad wouldn't be convinced. Bill stopped trying after a while. He wasn't sure when they parted ways, just that one day he was alone, more alone than he had ever been before, and he didn't like that one bit. It grated on him, wearing him down inch by inch until. Bill was going through the motions of life. 

She wasn't anything special, when he first saw her. Seeing her in a car accident, face cut with glass and broken bones in her arm, it made something in his memory stir, but nothing more. Her parents were gone, waiting to be taken, but her twin fought on. If she hadn't looked at him and begged for help, he would have taken her soul without regret. 

It was a while before he remembered her and just how they had met so many times before. There was one time that she probably didn't remember, and Bill kept that memory locked away. She wouldn't remember coming out of the womb with an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. 

She didn’t see him, for a while. Not because she didn’t want to, but because he didn’t want her to. It felt like just yesterday that he had taken a life, and there was another life that he could hold in his hands, the life of a person who could see him.

She was older when they first spoke, when they talked to each other that was more than begging for a life. He shouldn’t care, but the reasons her soul kept finding him was ridiculous. He gave her the flower she went out searching for. He made sure she got home safely. For someone that had cheated him from their soul so many times, he should have been bitter.

Yet he had never met someone with so much  _ life  _ before. He had seen humans who went to their deathbeds happy that they had done everything they ever wanted, but they had been so boring. They didn’t breathe life, they didn’t relish in every day they were present. That was all she did though, it was like her soul knew to cherish every moment because it had so many brushes with him. 

And then Tad had to show up, and ruin everything. Bill was silently starting to hate his friend, despite the history. At what point did he fall in love with his memories of Tad than the real Tad? Bill couldn’t remember, but he knew it for sure the moment Tad spoke to Mabel and Bill knew this wasn’t the same Tad he knew so long ago.

Her soul was bright, like a star, and he wanted to keep it safe.

He knew Tad was responsible the moment there were murders. Bill didn’t care too much for the humans. He didn’t like the fact Tad was murdering them, but he didn’t care to put a stop to it. It honestly surprised him, how it upset Mabel so much. Maybe that’s when he realized he was in over his head.

Watching her recover, it was hard. Her small gasps of pain when the nurses fixed her stitches, her silent tears when she had nightmares, it hurt. It hurt watching her recover in a bed and always look for him when she woke up with panicked breaths from nightmares. He liked being there for her, and he loved that when she would wake from nightmares or fear would strike her heart, she would look for him. 

Bill hovered near her, answering questions when she asked them and telling her stories to lull her back into sleep. Mabel only talked to him of what exactly Tad had said and done, searching for answers. Not telling her was better than explaining he had been the one to discover those things in the first place. 

She was months into recovery when things started to change, when she no longer looked in fear at nightmares but faced them head on. She was so strong, and Bill admired that, but she started looking ahead, looking for things that made her happy, and Bill slowly stopped becoming one of those things. 

Mabel Pines was only human, it stood to reason that she would want all of the things humans have a right to. She wanted to grow old and have a family, with someone who loved her and she loved in turn. Someone who could have been Bill, if he wasn't what he was. If the first touch they shared wouldn't bring death. Yet, it should have been him. 

For death was nothing but selfish. He took without reason or need, only taking what suited his fancy at the moment. He never discriminated, for everyone served their time on earth and moved on when he wanted them to. Mabel Pines had never truly known the selfishness that death could have, that he frequently flaunted as he took children that never had a chance to live, and people who were just starting to live and love and cherish life. 

He wanted her to stare at him, to look and want him. Truly, he didn't think it was selfish to want her, not when she was the first human in such a long time to see him. He wouldn't let this chance pass by again. He wouldn't allow her face to become blurry in memory as she went about her human life. Death could have a consort, couldn't he? Bill had no one to ask. 

It was easy. In the grand scheme of things, a butterfly could affect something miles and miles away. Everything entwined in a delicate web, all connected so snugly that it could be dangerous to snip apart. Bill examined the web of Mabel’s life carefully as he saw what actions affected the lives of others. 

Going forward, she would make a difference in the human world. She would petition for animal cruelty to stop and bring down a major corporation that was doing illegal testing. She would be her brother’s best woman at his marriage, and stand by him when his wife left him barely a year later. She would attend rallies and use her voice for change, one of many. She would die happy and content with everything she had accomplished. 

Nothing terrible would happen if she died young. 

In all, it came down to ignoring the single call of a soul. An infant, who almost died from nothing, as infants do sometimes. Yet a dead infant couldn't cry, and Bill ignored the call of a newborn soul as it wanted to be taken. It was the start of something horrendous. 

The drunk driver hit the car at fifty five miles per hour. When the diver’s head hit the back of his seat, he closed his eyes for the last time, and Bill collected his soul easily. The car holding Mabel and her brother was a mess of glass and metal, the radio playing an annoying pop song from inside. 

Bill’s shoes crunched the glass under his feet as he moved to the drivers side. Her brother would have made a dent in society with research, but some other human would make the same discoveries a year later. It was time for the young man to go, and Bill plucked his soul easily from his body. The young man didn’t even notice, resting comfortably in death’s embrace with a familiarity that few ever had.

Bill knelt down next to Mabel, the car crushed around her. She stared at him with half lidded eyes, mouth open as raspy breaths forced their way in and out. There was glass embedded in her cheeks, running down in thin rivulets like scarlet tears.

“B-Bill?” She stuttered, her voice catching in her throat as she coughed. It was an ugly wet sound, staining her lips pink. 

“Oh Star.” Bill sighed. “It’s time.”

He held out his hand for her, and she stared down at it. He was patient, as death always was. Bill forced himself to wait, and think of all the things he was taking from her. This time was unlike the others, she wouldn’t be able to live if he ignored her, another reaper would be called. Death had organized her demise, and it couldn’t be undone.

It shouldn’t be, Bill reasoned. Why must he constantly be without, why must he constantly give up what was most important to him? Mabel’s hazel eyes stared up at him, the spark of life fading into dull lifelessness.

With the last of her strength, she placed her hand into Bill’s, sighing in relief as an overwhelming sense of  _ home  _ centered her at the touch. Bill pulled her soul to his chest, not sending it off to the next world. She rested in his arms the same way her brother had, with a sense of familiarity and unsuppressed love.

“Welcome home, Star.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
>  
> 
> Lastly, don't forget to leave a comment below!


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